Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend [Hardcover]

Carrie Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2007

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NEED AND CAPTIVATE

Winner of the 2008 Maine Literary Award!

It isn't every day that my high school boyfriend, Eastbrook High School's Harvest King, tells me he's gay. It's not every day that the Harvest Queen is dumped in the middle of a road with the stars watching the humiliation and the dogs barking because they want to come help tear my heart out and leave it on the cold gray ground. It isn't every day that my entire world falls apart.

Belle believes that Dylan is her true love--maybe even her soulmate. Until one cold night when Dylan drops the ultimate bomb: he's gay. Where, Belle wonders, does that leave her? Should she have somehow been able to tell? Is every guy that she loves going to turn out to be gay?

This beautifully-written debut explores what happens when you are suddenly forced to see someone in a different light, and what that can teach you about yourself.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Senior Belle Philbrick is known as one half of her rural Maine high school's most established couples; everyone in town just assumes that she and Dylan will get married after college. When he confesses to her that he is gay, Belle doesn't know how to react. She wants to be there for him, the boy who had been her best friend for longer than they had been lovers, but his coming out is devastating for her. She knows that being an openly gay student in her small school is not going to be easy for Dylan; however, she didn't realize how difficult it would be to be known as his former girlfriend. Soon, Belle, too, is the target of stares and taunts and, as she tries to get through that first week after their breakup, she finds support from an unexpected ally who seems to offer a new chance at romance. The provincial Maine setting is richly described as a natural haven with the potential to both encourage and impede growth, and Belle's challenge to find nourishment there is well realized. The novel suffers a bit for its length; however, it introduces fully three-dimensional characters facing and reacting to Dylan's difficult decision to, by Belle's observation, be gay in a world where gay is dangerous…where gay means you can die because you've loved. Jones offers an atypical perspective of the coming-out story by legitimizing the love that is not lost, but changed, when young people grow up and apart.–Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston
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Review

"This book strikes a good balance between relevant social issues and flirty, teenage fun. Jones's smart and emotional writing style enhances this slightly addicting, fast-paced read."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Flux (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738710504
• ISBN-13: 978-0738710501
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,043,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carrie Jones graduated from Vermont College's MFA program for writing. She has edited newspapers and poetry journals and has recently won awards from the Maine Press Association and also been awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship as well as a Maine Literary Award.

Her first book, TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (EX) BOYFRIEND appeared May 2007. Her second novel tentatively titled,LOVE (AND OTHER USES FOR DUCT TAPE) came out March 2008. Another book, GIRL, HERO was released after August 2008. TIPS won the Maine Literary Award and the Independent Booksellers Award.

NEED, an urban fantasy/romance appeared December 2008 and has been named a VOYA Best Books of 2008 and is a finalist for a bunch of other awards.

That's boring though, isn't it? Here, let's try it this way.

Carrie Jones likes Skinny Cow fudgsicles and potatoes. She does not know how to spell fudgsicles. This has not prevented her from writing books. She lives with her cute family in Maine, but she grew up in Bedford, NH where she once had a seance with cool uber-comedian Sarah Silverman.

The Meyers brothers are from Bedford, too, so you'd think it would make Carrie funnier, coming from Bedford N.H. Obviously, something didn't work.

Carrie has a large, skinny white dog and a fat cat. Both like fudgicles. Only the cat likes potatoes. This may be a reason for the kitty's weight problem (Shh??? don't tell). Carrie has always liked cowboy hats but has never owned one. This is a very wrong thing. She graduated from Vermont College's MFA program for writing. She has edited newspapers and poetry journals and has recently won awards from the Maine Press Association and also been awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship as well as a Maine Literary Award.

Still boring? Still with me? How about this....

2. Carrie can not drink coffee. It makes her insane. Do not give her caffeine.
3. Carrie is very responsive to loving strokes on the hair, kind of like a puppy. However, do not do this without asking first unless you are a ridiculously handsome man or an editor who is about to offer her a trillion dollars for the first draft of her novel.
4. Carrie is secretly really, really shy even though she's pathetically outgoing in person. She has a very hard time calling people. So, if you want to talk to her, make the first move. And, if you're her in-Maine female best friend, Jennifer, do NOT get mad at her because she is so bad at returning emails.
5. Carrie sometimes wears mismatched socks, if you do not think this is cool, do not tell her. You will hurt her feelings.
6. Carrie really, really wants you to like her books. Please like her books. PLEEEAASSSEEEE. She'll be your best friend forever. That is, if you want a friend who is shy about calling and emailing and who wears mismatched socks and can't drink caffeine and likes being pet on the head. Hhmmm???.
7. Carrie is not above begging.
8. Carrie, like Belle in TIPS drinks Postum. It's for the same reason, too.
9. Carrie loves Great Pyrenees dogs. They are huge and white, and furry and it looks like they have white eyeliner and mascara on, which is way too cute. Do you have one? Send a picture!
10. Carrie lives in Maine. She has a hard time with this in the winter. It is bleak in Maine in the winter. Imagine everything shades of gray and brown and no green anywhere except for in people's noses. This is Maine in Winter. Maine in summer is the best place in the world, so it's a trade-off. Feel free to invite Carrie to your house in the winter, but not if it's in Greenland, Canada, or anywhere north of Florida.
11. Forget that. She'd still probably come.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A smart, big-hearted Young Adult novel, June 4, 2007

By 

Kelly Herold "Big A little a" (Smalltown, Midwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend (Hardcover)

Carrie Jones' "Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend" adds a twist to the YA breakup novel.

High school senior and singer-songwriter, Belle Philbrick, is dumped. And not in your usual way. Her boyfriend Dylan--Harvest King to Belle's Harvest Queen--announces that he's gay. And, needless to say, dumps her. "Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend" chronicles Belle's story in first-person narration over the course of the week that follows.

Why a week? In an inspired piece of character development, Belle doesn't want to turn into a Malory--a girl who whines about a boy for an extended period of time. Instead, she spends time with her best friend, Emily, and becomes closer to Dylan's best friend, Tom. And, because she lives in a small Maine town--her breakup and Dylan's announcement that he's gay remain their secret for about 24 hours before everyone knows everything. "Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend" is a tale not just of Belle's coming to terms with her gay (ex) boyfriend, but also the entire town's adjustment to Dylan's announcement.

Carrie Jones has created an admirable heroine in Belle. While her breakup with Dylan is understandably painful, social justice and her true love for Dylan win over her pain. As one of the leaders of her school's Amenesty International chapter, Belle can't overlook when other students call Dylan "fag" (or her, weirdly, "fag hag"). Belle is a compelling character, very real despite the fact that her situation may seem unusual. One doesn't expect your first and true love to be gay. Fortunately, Belle has a good friend to turn to--a level-headed girl named Emily. Here is a revealing conversation between the two girls:

"'You know. It's a big deal what's happening to you and Dylan and everything. That's hard to adjust to. You love him for, like, forever and then--boom that love's gone.'

I stare into Emily's blue eyes. She stares back with sympathy. I say as undramtically as possible. 'It was a lie, Em. It was just a fairy tale. You don't have to recover from a fairy tale.'

She exhales, plucks off the lens cap again and twirls it between her fingers. 'Yes, you do.'"

Carrie Jones has teenage speak--even the discourse of smart, self-aware teens like Emily and Belle--down pat. "Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend" is highly recommended for older teens. (There is some sexual content.) This is one smart book with one smart heroine.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tips for reading this book......., June 10, 2007

By 

Rhona L. Westbrook (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend (Hardcover)

1. Keep a tissue handy because if you were ever a teenager, ever in your life, this story will touch your soul and you'll probably cry.

2. Find a comfortable place to sit because you won't be able to move until you've finished the book and unless you read very fast, your butt will hurt.

3. Build a small shrine on which to place the book when you've finished because it forced you to look inside and really see yourself and you don't want to forget that feeling. Ever.

I LOVED this book and I don't even read this genre! Carie Jones has joined my list of favorite authors and I can't wait for her next book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome read..., December 31, 2008

By 

Sarah Woodard (Bremerton, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend (Paperback)

Summary: Belle believes that Dylan is the one that she'll marry, but one day, Dylan tells her that he is gay. Belle wonders where does this leave her. Dylan and her have been best friends since they were little in their little town in Maine. Since they started dating, Belle has been known as Dylan's girlfriend or the other half of their couple hood.
Belle and her other best friend, Emily decide that she can only have a week to cry, because she doesn't want to become like Mallory. As the week goes on, Belle finds a possible relationship in a guy that she least suspects and it turns out that he has liked for her for a long time. Bella also finds that having a gay ex-boyfriend isn't so so easy. She starts to find that both her and Dylan are getting harassed. This story is original and amazing.

My Review: If you haven't read this, go pick this up and get somewhere comfortable. It is a fairly short, yet amazing read. The characters are really amazing and well developed. I could relate to them. This is amazing for a debut novel and I need to get Carrie Jones' other books, as soon as possible. If you like Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway, you will probably like this and vice versa. The characters are both getting attention for past relationships and it has similar humor.