Book Review – Sanchez, Alex. “Rainbow Boys” (2001)

Overall 3.5 / 5.0 (recommended)
Gay Content 5.0 / 5.0
Gay Positivity 5.0 / 5.0

This novel aimed at gay adolescents recalls 1984′s excellent “The Boys on the Rock” by John Fox, another high school coming out tale. “Rainbow Boys” is a blander, shallower telling, but nevertheless remains an engaging read.

The three protagonists – Kyle, Nelson, and Jason – represent different points along the spectrum of sexuality, personality, and outness. Nelson and Jason are painted in fairly broad strokes – he’s the flamboyant queeny guy, while Jason is a jock struggling with feelings he doesn’t understand or want. And yet both are humanized, completely sympathetic, because Sanchez treats us to all their contradictions. The movie theater scene between Kyle and Jason is a delight of stream-of-consciousness adolescent angst. If Jason as popular high school athlete is removed from my personal experience, I powerfully connect to his fears, hope, uncertainties, and desires revealed in that scene.

Kyle, meanwhile, is the most “normal” of the group (we know this because the author keeps telling us so), and indeed he is the most individualized character in the novel. That is, he is not a “type,” nor is he a cardboard cutout. The same cannot be said of the secondary characters; the parents, friends, and school personalities are all one-dimensional archetypes present in the book primarily to spout dialogue to which the main trio can respond. In other words, they’re more scenery than characters.

A quote on the back cover suggests “Rainbow Boys” is for high school students what “Heather Has Two Mommies” is for the toddler set, and I agree. The book never tries to be more than what it is – a simple tale of three guys all struggling to find their way in a confusing and unfair world. That’s everyone story, but it’s wonderful and affirming to find it told from a pink perspective. Ultimately, don’t read this if you want a thought-provoking story or an in-depth character study, but do pick it up if you’d like to enjoy a quick, easy, and charming read clearly aimed at younger readers.

Addendum:

The similarities and differences between “The Boys on the Rock” and “Rainbow Boys” intrigue me. The latter book was published nearly 20 years after the former, and indeed the story reveals some important shifts in social attitudes. Specifically, Nelson and Kyle more easily accept their gay-ness, and they have resources available to them (such as a gay youth support group) that would have seemed unthinkable to the protagonist of Fox’s novel. And yet, it is dismaying how little the basic plot has strayed over nearly two decades. It’s still such a struggle for many gay youth to accept themselves, and gay people still face so much hate and violence. But both books are powerful tools to help gay kids by showing them that they are not alone or abnormal.