ELK's Library

I honestly wish more YA LGBTQA novels were written like this, the author did an amazing job at bringing Cameron to life. Danforth shows Cameron exploring her sexuality without completely ignoring the other parts that make her who she is. Cameron spends just as much time dealing with her grief over losing both her parents, trying to get over her first crush, and working her way through all the movies at the video rental store. Too many YA LGBTQA books seem to focus exclusively on the LGBTQA part, their characters come across as flat and uninteresting because they are never fully fleshed out. Their character begins and ends with them being LGBTQA.

If I did have any issues with this book, it was with the ending. I don't want to give away too much in this review, but if the author was aiming for a hopeful, if not happy ending, it doesn't work. Too many LGBTQA youths end up living on the streets, so while the book attempts to end on a somewhat positive note with Cameron coming to grips with the death of her parents, it's ultimately a discouraging ending. Cameron, Adam, and Jane are looking forward to the future, but the chances of a happy ending are slim. Also, as a heads up to anybody planning to read this book, at approximately 3/4 of the way through, one of the kids at Promise uses the  word 'tranny'.