Openly Straight

Openly Straight

By Bill Konigsberg

0 ratings 1 review 3 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 9 - 12Grades 3 - 5n/a4.778799
The award-winning novel about being out, being proud, and being ready for something else. Pre-order the companion novel Honestly Ben now (out 3/28/17)!

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He's won skiing prizes. He likes to write.

And, oh yeah, he's gay. He's been out since 8th grade, and he isn't teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys' boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret -- not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate breaking down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben... who doesn't even know that love is possible.
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
ISBN-13: 9780545798655
ISBN-10: 0545798655
Published on 4/28/2015
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 336

Book Reviews (1)

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B. Bawks B. Bawks

The parents in this book are over-the-top excited to have a gay son. In some ways they put him on display instead of just letting him be. They research to understand how to be supportive instead of getting feedback from their son. Rafe understands he is more than a label. To free himself, he travels 2000 miles away to a boarding school where he attempts to leave labels behind. Openly Straight reads more like a college experience than high school. The journaling required gave us a great reference and made me think about my own perspective. I like that there is no happy ending, instead it ends with possibilities.