1500 Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa
This book is undoubtedly a wonderful experience for its target audience, and deals effectively with a painful coming out experience precipitated by overuse of alcohol and careless posting on social media. The aftermath is well studied and would be very instructive for people in this situation. Jules is a likable character for the most part, and his friends are angelic in their support of him. The main antagonist is Jules’s father, who is violent in his homophobia in the early part of the book, and whose abuse of Jules is well handled and counterbalanced by his obvious love for his son. The book is one long gush of emotion. If I were at the right age I would have been overwhelmed by it. But books like this did not exist when I was at that age. From where I sit now, the story could have used some understatement, but this is of course simply a preference and the author made a different choice. But there is a self-centeredness to Jules that is hard to ignore after three hundred pages or more. His friends are supportive sometimes to a degree that strains credibility, but there are very few instances of Jules returning the favor. Granted the drama does center around his coming out and his confusion and choices. But I found myself tired of him precisely at the point when I should have had the most empathy for him. His found-family is not well depicted and only late in the book does anything happen to develop them in lives of their own. Nevertheless it’s a book worth reading especially for the folks at whom it is aimed. The book is also notable for its evocation of social media and smart phone culture; at least half the story involves Jules staring into his smart phone. This is a vivid depiction of that part of our world.