Leave Myself Behind (Alex Awards (Awards)) (Hardcover)

by Bart Yates (Author)
Key Phrases: leave myself behind, Bart Yates, Stephen Carlisle, Maria Louise (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Noah York is a closeted gay teenager with a foul mouth, a critical disposition, and plenty of material for his tirades. After his father dies, Noah's mother, a temperamental poet, takes a teaching job in a small New Hampshire town, far from Chicago and the only world Noah has known. While Noah gets along reasonably with his mother, the crumbling house they try to renovate quickly reveals dark secrets, via dusty Mason jars they discover interred between walls. The jars contain scraps of letters, poems, and journal entries, and eventually reconstruct a history of pain and violence that drives a sudden wedge between Noah and his mother. Fortunately, Noah finds an unexpected ally in J. D., a teenager down the street who has family troubles of his own. Rape and other physical violence, alcoholism, and incest--the novel describes these abuses in a brutal, matter-of-fact way that may leave some readers uncomfortable. Most of the time, however, Yates effectively captures the honest, sometimes silly, often tender interactions between his fragile characters. James Klise
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Publisher
"Ever since J.D. Salinger wrote The Catcher in the Rye, authors have been hoping to create the next Holden Caulfield and critics have hoped to crown a character with that distinction. The latest temptation for comparison is surely Leave Myself Behind, a debut by Bart Yates. Yates' main character and narrator, Noah York, has Caulfield-style teenage authenticity. Noah's voice is more than just honest or original; it's real. The tone of his observations will ring true for anyone who has been around teenagers. This isn't just a novel about a boy dealing with discrimination and fighting for acceptance. Nor is Noah a character for whom sexual orientation is the only developed personality trait. We don't see Noah as simply a gay teen or fatherless child. We see him as a character dealing with life. That's what makes Leave Myself Behind so great." --The Plain Dealer

"Noah York is seventeen, but don't let his age fool you. Noah's blunt, funny and dead-on narrative will lend this memorable tale of young-but-cynical love a fresh resonance with readers of all ages, gay or straight, male or female. A gripping tale of buried secrets and emerging attractions, but more than that, a story of the familial ties that bind as they grow stronger and pull apart." -- Brian Malloy, author of The Year of Ice

"With Leave Myself Behind, Bart Yates gives us both the laugh-out-loud and refreshingly sincere coming-of-age story we've been missing all these years." --Instinct

"A dazzlingly brilliant debut novel...Bart Yates, where have you been hiding? Leave Myself Behind is not only well written, it is at once hilariously comic, disturbingly sad, achingly profound, and just plain good reading! Some novels just get to you and this is one. Bart Yates, please write another and another. You have so much innate talent and gift for storytelling that it is simply mind boggling! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED reading for just about everyone who loves good books." --The Gay Read

"Tart-tongued and appealing, young Noah York is living through the worst and best three months of his life. In Bart Yates' gripping debut novel, Noah spins a tale that is by turns refreshingly strange and poignantly familiar. What he discovers--about the haunted and haunting past, the always vexed relations between parents and children, the bittersweet mysteries of love--will shock and surprise and move you." --Paul Russell, author of War Against The Animals

"Yates effectively captures the honest, sometimes silly, often tender interactions between his fragile characters." -- Booklist

"The coming-out novel is a staple of queer fiction debuts. Some would even say it's an overworked cliché`. But Leave Myself Behind is an effervescently effective addition to the genre - Yates, in his first novel, has injected juicy originality into the coming-of-age fable. At its smart and smart-ass center is impudently precocious Noah...Yates crams his richly nuanced plot with a lot of issues but he bundles it all together with as sure touch for deciphering teen angst, exploring adolescent sex and detailing life on the confusing cusp of growing up." --The Front Page (Raleigh, North Carolina)

"It's not an easy task these days to come up with a fresh and original gay coming-of-age and coming-out story (which are usually the same thing). Give Bart Yates credit; he takes the challenge and relies on other narrative pulls to launch his tale of how his narrator, 17-year-old Noah York, a smart and smart-alecky artist with Holden Caulfield-like skepticism about the world, comes to self-knowledge about his own sexuality, society's (especially his high school's) way of dealing with it when it becomes a public issue, and most importantly, how his love for the boy next door develops. Yates is an author to watch and earns an "A"." --Frontiers

"The voice of Noah York is beguiling, impudent and wise. Noah's honesty made me remember how it feels to be seventeen when only humor and friendship can save you." -- Elizabeth Stuckey-French, author of Mermaids on the Moon

"The writing is fresh and the stories intriguing." -- Echo Magazine

"Bart Yates has written a compelling tale about the obsessions and mysteries of the heart. A risk-taking, impressive debut that will keep readers page-turning from start to finish." --William J. Mann, author of Where The Boys Are --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758203489
• ISBN-13: 978-0758203489
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #596,968 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't leave this book behind!, September 10, 2003

By	Christian "Writer/Human" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

Bart Yates writes a poignant and somewhat believable account of the Noah York, a seventeen-year-old high school student who falls in love with his neighbor, J.D. Noah's mother is a bucketful of dysfunction, but she must be as an accomplished poet. While she's at times permissive and at others psychotic, Noah must navigate the waters of his adolescence without losing his own sanity, or losing his life. Though Yates writes with style and insight, there are a few places where the boundaries of believability are stretched thin...yet, he manages to avoid stepping completely past those points and does so without coming across as schmaltzy or trite. It's been a long while since I've read a novel with a gay central character that hasn't covered the same ground that everyone else has. "Leave Myself Behind" is that break-through novel.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, March 29, 2006

By	A. Laird - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't know what it is about the way Yates writes - but I become obsessed with the characters and story and just hate putting the book down. I recently read Brothers Bishop and felt the same. Right now I feel sad because I finished the book and fear I will not find anything as engrossing any time soon. This is not a typical coming of age novel - the characters are well developed and the story is one that any reader would enjoy! Keep on writing Mr. Yates!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is Quite a Story & Different!, April 1, 2003

By	Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

We have seen so many coming-out novels published in the past few years that one could say it's starting to be overdone, but this new novel about 17 year old Noah, is very effective and shows great originality. There are so many issues going on in the lives of these well-developed characters, that it takes a while to grasp it all, but you will, and it's quite a story from the beginning to end.

Noah, a closeted gay teenager, is dealing with his father's death, his adjustment to living in rural New Hampshire after moving from urban Chicago, and his mother's growing madness as she discovers a terrible dark secret in the new house as she finds mason jar after mason jar between the walls filled with letters, poems, and other strange things while renovating the house. On top of all this, Noah's blossoming love for his new neighbor, J.D., a handsome 16 year-old, creates more issues as well. J.D. is living a horrific home life, with an alcoholic father and a bigoted mother. Yes, there's much, much more to this story. You'll have to discover the rest for yourself. Yates has the creative touch to explore all these issues, and many more not mentioned, and still bring it all together in the end.

If you want an honest, intelligent, well-crafted story to read, this is the book for you. Yates is a fine writer, who has a great future ahead of him. This is a book to really get absorbed in, and forget the world around you for a while. Spend some time with these dysfunctional families, and your own life will take on a whole new light. Highly recommended!

Joe Hanssen