Customer Reviews

Absolutely Positively Not (Sid Fleischman Humor Award)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A lot gay-oriented young adult lit today can be overly sexual (not a bad thing but also one that seems to promise more for a kid's reality than it can deliver), or depend too much on fantasy (gay kid finds out hot, sexy number one school jock is gay and they fall in love), can be didactic (teens giving speeches that I, on my best and most lucid day, could never deliver off the cuff) or just poorly written. Granted, Young Adults don't need books to be structured like a Henry James novel, but poor dialogue and character development can make me groan and I don't think anybody is done any favors when a publishing house rushes out a mess of a novel just to catch a trend.

Thankfully for us, "Absolutely, Positively Not ..." (APN) is a fun, light, well-written entry into the genre that's readable and completely charming. Sure, some of the book can have some situations that some see as sitcomish but you have to admit, they're cute. There are just as many funny, original moments in the book that previous reviewers ignored. I think my favorite moment in APN involves ice fishing and an wildly enthusiastic response when he thinks he's won a pickup truck only to really have won ... I won't give it away. That moment encapsulates the theme of the book and Steven's world, of misperceptions and reality.

The best thing about APN is that it's hopeful. APN doesn't perpetuate the myth that you come out and suddenly you're dating and everything's okay. It's a step by step process and Steven's just beginning to take the journey. Many of the best Young Adult novels are those that don't wrap everything up in a neat bow and allow for the reader to make their own decisions as to what happens next. I'm glad I happened to find this book and hope more people discover it from themselves.

I really enjoyed this teen novel. Steven, the main character, resists the possibility that he is gay. There are many scenes of Steven trying to be straight (dating girls, sitting with the jocks, etc.), with comically disastrous consequences. He gradually admits to himself that he is gay, and then comes out to his parents and faces his peers at school and at the prom.

Though coming out is a serious, deep issue, the book is told humorously. It's a very fun and fast-paced read, which also manages to deliver a powerful message that homosexuality is not a choice.

I wish I had the words to describe how wonderful this book is! Hilarious, touching, entertaining, funny, enlightening...I just don't have the vocabulary to sing its praises!

I loved Steven, his parents were a total hoot (and I just adored the part where he came out to his dad). Rachel was terrific, and her parents ROCKED! Victor was cool. I really liked the part about taking Kelly to the dance!

My heart was pounding during the library scene when kids from another school were making gay jokes, and I felt bad when Mr. Bowman laughed at the wrong jokes.

The stories about Steven trying to get his driver's license and mom's book and her lack of housekeeping skills just really added to the fun! This book is not JUST about coming out. Anyone could read it just for the dang fun of it!

This is a great story of a boy becoming happy with who he is, and the delightful realization that others like him just how he is, too!

This is Steven's tale of exploration and struggle to determine his sexual identity. Told in a very humorous fashion, this story follows Steven's journey after he wonders when he is finally going to be interested in girls. He thinks himself to be a very observant individual in that he notices everything about his very attractive teacher, Mr. Bowman. He is sure, however, that if he can find just the right girl, his feelings about girls will change. But after 24 dates with 22 different girls, he's pretty sure that he is gay. His best friend Rachel is ecstatic that he is finally coming out (since she has known for over a year) and wants to empower him by forming a gay-straight alliance at school. He still has a lot of questions, though, can barely admit it to himself, never mind the kids at school! And he doesn't know how to tell his parents. This fast-paced story is easy-to-read and will keep readers laughing. The reader can feel the pain Steven is experiencing as methodically goes through the steps to prove that he is absolutely, positively, not gay. It could be an especially good book to recommend to boys who are trying to understand their sexual identity, but both boys and girls will enjoy reading it.

Growing up gay is difficult. Period. And when you pick up nearly any teen novel that addresses this issue, you'll usually find a very realistic and often heartbreaking depiction of the traumas that go along with it: prejudice, discrimination, teasing and sometimes violence. Most works portray these trials with a careful blend of sensitivity and pathos but are occasionally encumbered with a sense of foreboding and caution.

It was so refreshing to pick up David LaRochelle's ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOT...and find a teen novel that looked at the clammy-skinned, throat-catching horrors of coming out but approached them with a sense of humor and fun. This is dangerous territory. Coming out and simply living life as a gay teen is not often a pleasant experience. Treating the topic with levity could be seen as belittling the problems these teens encounter on a day-to-day basis.

But LaRochelle's skillful approach to the tribulations faced by 16-year-old Steven DeNarski manages not only to deal with Steven's coming out in a respectful manner but also to capture the dread felt by anyone who has spent a second of time worrying what the world would think of them once they were out.

In the book, Steven begins by clearly asserting that he is absolutely, positively not gay. He is able to rationalize with great aplomb his attraction to men, his love of square dancing, and the fact that he's never shown an interest in girls. But when he begins to question his own excuses, Steven launches into a hilarious series of events in an effort to assert his heterosexuality. But everything intended to bring what he believes to be his "latent" attraction to girls to the forefront --- a dismal attempt to bond with the overly-manly hockey team, a series of dates with as many girls as he can round up --- ends in complete failure. When he invents a girlfriend named Kelly to take to a school dance in order to throw his mother off the scent (he ends up taking his best friend's golden retriever named Kelly as a "statement"), he is forced to at last confront the fact that he is gay.

LaRochelle's deft humor and characterization of Steven is what really makes this book special. Although Steven occasionally borders on almost-unbelievably-naïve for a 16-year-old, you never lose your sympathy for what he's going through. The book is peppered with quirky supporting characters (like Steven's mother, who writes popular books on how to be clean and tidy; meanwhile her house is a mess) who offer both obstacles and, ultimately, unconditional support for Steven. There is enough left unresolved at the end to leave one hoping for a follow-up novel in the near future.

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOT... will please readers, gay and straight, with its sharp wit, flowing story, and endearing take on a difficult subject.

--- Reviewed by Brian Farrey

I agree with others who've reviewed this title that the narrator, Steven, is very likable. He's upbeat, even when he's nervous or angry, which is a trait that separates him from other gay characters in many novels. Unfortunately, I found the situations he found himself in -- like dating 24 girls in one month, having a sexy schoolmate throw herself at him, and accidentally starting a new fashion craze at his school -- to be standard-issue sitcom material. Most situations end at the close of each chapter, just like at the end of a TV episode.

The story shows promise in the beginning when Steven describes his attraction to square-dancing: he likes that there is no confusion about what to do. That sentiment seemed so straightforward and heartfelt that I wanted to know more about it and see Steven enjoying it regularly. Instead, the square-dancing group becomes another situation for humor based on deception (a fellow dancer wants to fix Steven up with her grand-daughter and Steven must come up with an excuse not to meet her).

With other good novels covering the teenage coming out process with humor AND depth (like "Blackbird" by Larry Depluchan and "Eight Seconds" by Jean Ferris), I'm afraid I just can't recommend this one.

David LaRochelle's ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOT... (Gay) is the most rollicking fun time I've had reading a book in quite some time. I would say it's a cross between a Beverly Cleary book and a Woody Allen movie. Not your regular teen coming out book with heavy-handed angst, pain, and turmoil; this story is light-as-a-feather, genuinely funny, and as feel-good as it gets. It qualifies as a children's book but is smart enough to captivate adults as well.

16-year-old Steven DeNarski is fiercely in denial about the fact that he's gay. In order to "straighten" himself out, he checks out a book from the local library and attempts to follow its advice. He sits at the jocks' table in the cafeteria, hoping their masculinity will rub off on him, tries aversion therapy - snapping his wrist with a rubber band whenever he thinks about boys, and goes on a dating spree taking out every girl in school who will agree to a date. When it all fails, he resigns to take a little peek out of the closet. When he tells his best friend Rachel, he thinks he might be gay, she squeals with delight telling him her parents had predicted to her a year ago that he was gay. When he worries that if her parents figured it out, might his own parents already know as well? She answers, "I'm sorry Steven, I don't think your parents even know that Elton John is gay!" Rachel is gung-ho to yank him all the way out and make him the poster-boy of a gay-straight alliance club in school. When he comes out to his mother, she refuses to hear it, constantly changing the subject - it's obvious where he inherited his capacity for denial. His father has a totally different reaction.

I was reminded of my childhood, reading Beverly Cleary and completely cracking up at the scrapes that Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby would get themselves into. I should explain that I am particularly in tune to humor derived from slightly neurotic situations - I think Woody Allen is 30,000 times funnier than Will Ferrell. LaRochelle's wit constantly had me in stitches, often resulting in out and out laughing fits. I read comments from other readers who complained that the book was sit-commish - I only wish more sit-coms were this sophisticated and witty!

But underneath all the humor and outlandish situations, there is real heart. Steven's struggle to fit in, and his embarrassment over his social gaffes will reel you in. He suffers a bit of disillusionment near the end as one perceived "ally" lets him down, but great hope when another ally is found where he least expects it. The end made my heart soar. Damn, what I wouldn't have given to have a book like this when I was a teenager.

I sat in a writing session with David at a Young Authors Conference in the Spring of 2007. I was so impressed with his ablility to communicate effective ways of using humor to convey important ideas to youth, that I immediately purchased his book Absolutely Positively Not. I read it in one sitting, being absolutely positively captured by his graceful and naturally funny treatment of a certain young man's coming of age story. As an educator, I highly recommend this book to both youth and adults alike. David's perspective is priceless.

If your looking to just sit back, relax, and unwind for an evening, this is the book for you.

This book is about a 16 year old boy who does everything in his power to prove he's not gay, when, in fact, he is. Getting to admit it to himself takes him on a humorous journey through dating girls, trying and failing to get his driver's license and going to the dance with his best friend's dog as his date.
I laughed so much I scared my cats! I thought this was a great book for teens who may be questioning their sexuality and would allow them to see they aren't the only one struggling but in a lighthearted way that is not condensending at all. I recommend this book!