★★★★☆
Flamer by Mike Curato
Published on September 1, 2020
by Henry Holt and Co.
Genres: Graphic novel, young adult fiction, LGBTQ, gay, queer
“It’s really hard to be invisible when you stick out so much, but I do my best.”
Synopsis
Award-winning author and artist Mike Curato draws on his own experiences in Flamer, his debut graphic novel, telling a difficult story with humor, compassion, and love.
I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both.
I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe.
It’s the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone’s going through changes—but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can’t stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
My Thoughts
I actually only heard about Flamer for the first time when I was researching my list on how many banned books I’ve read. This graphic novel has apparently been challenged umpteen times across many U.S. states since its publication in 2020, mostly for its portrayal of a gay teen struggling with suicidal ideation but also for its subtle use of religious symbols as metaphors for queerness.
This was a fast, easy read, as are most graphic YA novels. But I almost immediately understood why Flamer has been so acclaimed, since it brought me right back to being the 14-year-old eighth grader who was realizing he was gay. Aiden, however, is spending the summer with a bunch of other mostly homophobic boys at camp, pretty much any baby gay teen’s worst nightmare.
But the thing is, Aiden loves camp. And he doesn’t think that the fact that most of the boys tease him for being effeminate, or for just not being obviously hetero-masculine, means he doesn’t belong at camp. That’s what I loved about his character; when I was Aiden’s age, so many of the activities that I liked in elementary school quickly became unwanted territory in middle school as the homophobic bullying ramped up. What I hated most about those years was being called gay before I even had the chance to truly figure it out for myself. When I did realize I was gay, the thought of being the thing that everyone at school made fun of me for took precedence over how I actually felt about it.
Flamer does an excellent job at capturing these feelings that young gay teens go through, even in a supposedly more open-minded era. Toxic masculinity is still alive and well, folks. Things get even more complicated when Aiden starts having feelings for a boy at camp, Elias, which makes him even more confused about himself and his sexuality.
Will our friends and family still love us if we’re “like that”? Aiden’s best friend and pen pal says she’ll love him no matter what, and after an awkward encounter between Aidan and Elias where the aforementioned feelings become known, Elias eventually extends an olive branch. Which almost never happens in real life when straight boys get hit on, at least not at that age.
The only reason I deducted a star from my rating of Flamer was because I didn’t personally relate to the feelings of going against my religion for being gay, since I wasn’t raised devoutly religious. I understand wholeheartedly that this is something many gay people go through growing up, especially in homophobic churches. But the fact that religion contributes to so much of Aiden’s suffering doesn’t sit well with me, even though it is still pretty realistic.
So concludes the final selection for this year’s Pride Month Reads! Don’t forget to read queer books year round, since our lives and rights matter in every month of the year.
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Jeffrey Reads 