{"id":79,"date":"2009-04-07T08:51:21","date_gmt":"2009-04-07T13:51:21","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-04-19T09:35:24","modified_gmt":"2011-04-19T14:35:24","slug":"david_inside_out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/david_inside_out\/","title":{"rendered":"David Inside Out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Bantle, Lee. <em>David Inside Out.<\/em> New York, NY: Henry Holt &amp; Co., 2009. hardcover. 192p. $16.99. ISBN: 9781416900399.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In his first novel for young adults, <strong>Lee Bantle<\/strong> has created a wholly believable and likable protagonist in David Dahlgren. In a story based on Bantle&#8217;s own experience of growing up gay in Minnesota, the book takes David from creating a plan to be straight to accepting his sexuality.<\/p>\n<p>Covering such rites of passage as a disastrous first love (with closeted track teammate Sean) to coming out to a parent, this title is a stand-out in the crowded YA field, a practical, relatable read-alike for the now classic <em>Rainbow Boys.<\/em> David not only deals with his homosexuality but, in a rare treat, visits a gay bookstore and finds a supportive ear on a gay crisis helpline, gaining a larger sense of community and belonging. His process of coming out to his mother is facilitated by her watching the end of <em>My Beautiful Laundrette<\/em> with David and his best friend, Eddie, who is also gay. David&#8217;s friendship with Eddie is another treat; they draw strength and support from each others&#8217; experiences, though at times it is difficult.<\/p>\n<p>While Bantle&#8217;s prose is not always elegant, the book has short, readable chapters, a sympathetic narrator in David, and a storyline that readers will be eager to finish.<\/p>\n<p>The book contains significant sexual content, but it&#8217;s handled in a mostly nonexplicit way that serves the narrative. Highly recommended for libraries of all sizes as a first purchase.<\/p>\n<p>Reviewed by <strong>Angie Manfredi<\/strong><br \/>\nHead of Youth Services<br \/>\nLos Alamos County Library System<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bantle, Lee. David Inside Out. New York, NY: Henry Holt &amp; Co., 2009. hardcover. 192p. $16.99. ISBN: 9781416900399. In his first novel for young adults, Lee Bantle has created a wholly believable and likable protagonist in David Dahlgren. In a story based on Bantle&#8217;s own experience of growing up gay in Minnesota, the book takes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}