Flamer by Mike Curato

This graphic novel is long overdue. This is a brutally honest look at male puberty, focusing on fourteen year old Aiden as he tries to navigate his unsure sexuality, body image, ideals of masculinity, family, friendship, and religion. While not every male reader will see himself in Aiden, he will see himself in one of the many male-types represented at Aiden's one week at summer Boy Scout camp.

Aiden is at Boy Scout camp the summer between Catholic middle school, and  public high school. Aiden loves summer camp, because it takes him away from a painful family and school life. As Aiden navigates through summer camp he discovers that many of the issues the world has thrown at him because he is "different," he will face at summer camp. His body image, lack of athletic ability, effeminate mannerisms, and dreams focusing on a member of his troop, render Aiden powerless when facing the bullying and mocking from fellow Scouts. Fortunately, some of his friends and leaders are not assholes, and show Aiden support.

Much of the story is drawn from Mike Curato's personal experiences. He expressed that when he was a teen in the 90's there weren't any books that mirrored who he was. Feeling marginalized and unimportant, he created Flamer to fill that gap. There was much I related to in this book. This is not all depressing. There is much humor here that will make you smile and remind you of similar experiences.

The art work is rough, with line having the texture of chalk. The drawings are simple but the characterizations and emotion come shining through. The black and white drawings are enhanced by orange and red spot color representing literal and emotional heat. The wide variety of panel shapes and composition, give the book a cinematic feel.

I highly recommend this for all YA collections. The language is real and natural given the age group and setting, but might be considered inappropriate for younger YA. The liberal me, that feels that there are many, even in middle school, that will need this book, would put it in my middle school library. A quote on the cover from Jerrett Krosoczka reads, "This book will save lives." I couldn't agree more.

Mark's Book Picks Score: 5

Reading Level: 3.2 • Interest Level: 9-12 • AR Points: 1.0 • Lexile Level: NA • Publisher: Henry Holt • Pages: 366 • Copyright: 2020 • ISBN: 978-1-627-79641-5