How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity [Hardcover]

Michael Cart (Author), Francesca Lia Block (Author), David Levithan (Author), Ron Koertge (Author), Eric Shanower (Author), Julie Anne Peters (Author), Jennifer Finney Boylan (Author), William Sleater (Author), Emma Donoghue (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2009

A girl thought to be a boy steals her sister's skirt, while a boy thought to be a girl refuses to wear a cornflower blue dress. One boy's love of a soldier leads to the death of a stranger. The present takes a bittersweet journey into the past when a man revisits the summer school where he had "an accidental romance." And a forgotten mother writes a poignant letter to the teenage daughter she hasn't seen for fourteen years.

Poised between the past and the future are the stories of now. In nontraditional narratives, short stories, and brief graphics, tales of anticipation and regret, eagerness and confusion present distinctively modern views of love, sexuality, and gender identification. Together, they reflect the vibrant possibilities available for young people learning to love others—and themselves—in today's multifaceted and quickly changing world.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—This collection's refreshing perspective—that gay, lesbian, and transgendered lives simply are, as Cart states in the introduction, "as wonderfully various, diverse, and gloriously complex as any other lives,"—distinguishes it. Twelve acclaimed authors contribute stories ranging from sweet and nostalgic to lyrical and desperate, capturing the blissful/painful process of self-discovery. Highlights include Margo Lanagan's retelling of "The Highwayman" from a voyeuristic stable boy's point of view and Gregory Maguire's story told from different points in time, in which an 18-year-old Iranian-American boy discovers the impact a summer of accidental love can have on his entire life. The formats and settings of the stories are as varied as the characters. Graphic novelist Ariel Schrag's "San Francisco Dyke March" gives funny tourist observations, and in "Happily Ever After," Eric Shanower illustrates how love, not genies, fixes troubled relationships. William Sleator's compelling Thai character finds a dangerous love. Francesca Lia Block, David Levithan, and Emma Donoghue customize the epistolary story. Julie Anne Peters skillfully voices two teen girls' trepidation and ecstasy during their first sexual encounter. Ron Koertge's "My Life as a Dog" is an ingenious metaphor for coming out, and in "Trev" Jacqueline Woodson gently allows Trev to accept his gender identity. This collection, with some detailed sexual descriptions, is sure to find its intended teen audience.—Amy J. Chow, The Brearley School, New York City END

About the Author

Past president of the Young Adult Library Services Association, Michael Cart is a columnist and reviewer for Booklist magazine. He is also the author or editor of nineteen books, including the gay coming-of-age novel My Father's Scar and—with Christine Jenkins—The Heart Has Its Reasons, a critical history of young adult literature with gay/lesbian/queer content. His anthologies include Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Truth and Necessary Noise: Stories about Our Families as They Really Are.

In 2008 he was the first recipient of the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Achievement Award, and in 2000 he received the Grolier Foundation Award for his contribution to the stimulation and guidance of reading by young people. Mr. Cart lives in Columbus, Indiana.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061154989
• ISBN-13: 978-0061154980
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #454,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Shanower is the Eisner Award-winning and New York Times best selling cartoonist of Age of Bronze, a graphic novel retelling of the Trojan War. Age of Bronze is a work in progress. Three volumes have been published and the story is more than one-third complete. When finished, Age of Bronze will tell the entire story of the legendary war at Troy, weaving into one the many tellings and permutations of the story throughout the centuries.

As a child, Shanower fell in love with the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and their illustrations by John R. Neill. Shanower decided to write and illustrate his own Oz books someday. Goal accomplished. Shanower's long list of contributions to the world of L. Frank Baum's Oz includes Marvel Comics' Eisner Award-winning, New York Times best selling current adaptations of Baum's Oz books with cartoonist Skottie Young.

Shanower's illustrations have appeared in magazines, in childrens books, and on television. His comics have been published around the world and include such works as his Oz graphic novel series (currently collected as Adventures in Oz), An Accidental Death with writer Ed Brubaker, The Elsewhere Prince with writers Moebius and R-JM Lofficier, and the introductions to Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor. He resides in San Diego with his partner. When he's not writing or drawing, he's often swimming, dancing, or reading, usually not all at the same time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stories of GLBT identity for teens, October 26, 2009

By 

David N. Parker "pflagtnet" (Colfax, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity (Hardcover)

This unusual book is an assembly of 12 stories of identity written by twelve authors of note in the GLBT community. It is unique, in that the stories vary from spiritually philosophical to personal histories to comic strips - all dealing with teen GLBT experiences.
The book starts with a tale of young romance narrated by an unknown spirit of gays past now observing gays present and projecting their future. There are a number of brief views into the hesitancy of young romance with all the mental anguish so many teenagers suffer over their affection for another and that person's response. A young transwoman relates her first venture outside her home dressed as te girl she knows she is. In First Time, Julie Anne Peters expresses all their joys and fears as two girls stumble their way through their first full loving experience.
Two adult perspectives complete the picture. A woman writes (again) to the daughter she lost when she lost her partner, who refuses to allow contact with the child they shared for several years; she doesn't know if this daughter ever receives her letters. A young Muslim father remembers as he travels with his two sons back to his Alma Mater to hear his former lover perform in concert. He has chosen to suppress his true feelings to live as his Iranian parents desire.
Every reader will react differently to these stories, probably preferring one over another for their own reasons. The main point, I think, is that there are joys and sorrows in all relationships, no matter our orientation or identity.