The Lesbiana's Guide To Catholic School

YA fiction 

     "So you're running away to Catholic school now?  Are you that desperate to avoid me?

     Yes.  Desperate enough to quit my job, too.  Anything to keep from seeing her.  Anything."

     If there's an adage to describe Yamilet, protagonist of Sonora Reyes' The Lesbiana's Guide To Catholic School, it's once burned, twice shy.  Her sophomore year in public school ended badly.  Her long time best friend and crush, Bianca, outed her.  Now she and her academically gifted  brother,  Cesar, are starting out at an expensive Catholic school.  Nobody knows of her shaming there.  Determined never to go through that again she's going to fake being straight whether or not she makes it.  Only that's going to be really challenging because...

     ...she's majorly attracted to Bo, a classmate who is openly gay and politically outspoken, everything Yamilet wishes she could be.  And school isn't the only place coming out could be dangerous.  Her mother seems to share her church's condemnation of gays and lesbians.  She's trying to save enough to rent an apartment if she and Cesar (who is bi) are kicked out of their home.

     Cesar creates his own challenges.  In fact the real reason the siblings transferred schools was that he kept getting into fights.  Their mother hopes a new school will give him a fresh start.  But she also expects Yamilet to keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble.

     Readers learning to feel at ease with their own changing, intersectional selves will find Yamilet's coming out and coming of age narrative to be engaging, compelling, and thought provoking...plus a damn good read.  It will fly off the shelves of library YA sections.

On a purrrsonal note, this weekend was UMaine's family and friends weekend.  I'd promised Lisa Morin that I'd help her with a service project: teaching attendees to make dog toys out of unwanted tee shirts.  With no buses on Saturdays I had to thumb a ride.  But it was well worth while.  Lots of people who made dog toys put them in the bin for shelter dogs.  They all had fun.  And there were lots of other fun stuff on the mall.  You'll see some in the pictures.  There was steel drum band music and lots of free food.  And the weather was purrrfect.  (Jules)

It sounds more like nightmare on College Avenue.  There were dogs all over the place.  I'm very glad I stayed home. I got to meet Jules' friend Katherine whom I totally approve of.  You can't let your people hang out with the wrong crowd.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all who attended and hopefully didn't share COVID germs.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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