Rainbow Boys

by Alex Sanchez

Book Overview

A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)

Navigating through an intolerant world and their own insecurities, three teenage boys find each other and the confidence to come out of the closet.

Three teenage boys, coming of age and out of the closet. Jason Carrillo is a jock with a steady girlfriend, but he can't stop dreaming about sex...with other guys. Kyle Meeks doesn't look gay, but he is. And he hopes he never...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689857705
• ISBN13: 9780689857706
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Somewhere with the rainbow

I loved all the 3 books. not super cheesy and pretty realistic. Everything unfolds in a wonderful way

Should be mandatory reading for gay teens and their parents

When I looked at the cover for this book, I almost wrote it off as fluff. After all, there are three "pretty boys" on the cover, and frankly, that type of cover doesn't shout: "GREAT LITERATURE!" I'm glad I looked at the back of the book because I saw that it was indeed literature to be taken seriously, as it had received some rather impressive accolades. Given that, I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did. The author achieved something in this book that's difficult for even the most seasoned writers to do: he wrote from three different points-of-view, gave each character a distinctive voice, as well as unique personalities, with different problems and obstacles to overcome. I thought at first that Kyle and Jason would be very similar people. The back of the book identifies Jason as a "jock" and Kyle as a "swim team star". Those descriptions aren't terribly far apart. However, "jock" carries with it a different stigma than does "swim team star", and Jason and Kyle are definitely very different people. The author made an excellent choice starting the book from Jason's perspective. Kyle and Nelson were vastly more comfortable with their sexuality, so to start the book from one of their perspectives would have been to begin the story with little to no tension. In order to hook a reader, an author needs to introduce tension immediately. Jason was the most conflicted of the three, so he was the logical and perfect choice. The author also did a tremendous job in that first chapter introducing us to all of the main players and probably plot lines. Beginning with Jason walking around the block three times while contemplating entering the brownstone where the "gay" meeting would take place, he then stepped back briefly and showed us the thought process that brought Jason to that point. He had called a gay hotline for youths three times, and we aren't privy to those conversations, unfortunately. Personally, I would have liked to know the type of questions Jason was asking. However, we are immediately introduced to Jason's thought processes, so it's easy to surmise what he may have asked. He imagined a room of "queers", with him in it, trying to imagine himself fitting into that group. The immediate picture he had was that of Nelson, who was the so-called type of homosexual that even a blind and deaf dog would know is gay. He knew that he wasn't like Nelson, he thought about his girlfriend of two years, but couldn't understand why he had intense dreams of naked men. Finally he decides to enter the brownstone, where the meeting is being held, and finds two other boys from his high school: Nelson and Kyle. Nelson was no surprise to him, but Kyle was. Kyle was not your so-called typical "queer", easily recognizable. Kyle seemed "normal". This threw Jason for a loop. So, to cut to the chase, a few things happened, and Jason went running from the room. Nelson and Kyle both came to life in this chapter with very strong presences. Nelson was exactly as J

A Definite Winner

Alex Sanchez's witty, realistic, and provocative look at gay teen sexuality is a definite winner! The story follows the lives of three teenage boys during their final year of high school. Jason Carillo, "ultrajock" and Mr. Popularity has a girlfriend, and they've even had sex, so why does he sometimes think of other guys? Nelson Glassman is out and proud, a loud sarcastic mouth his only weakness against the gay bashers he confronts each and every day. And Kyle Meeks, Nelson's best friend, and lonely intellectual, harboring a secret crush on Jason since Freshman year. In this fresh and startling novel, the experiences of the three intertwine and intersect, producing one of the best novels for gay teens in recent years. The book, however, resists being labeled as merely "gay fiction." This is a story of adolescence and high school, of love lost and love found. It is perhaps one of the most revealing glimpses of growing up, (gay or straight) that I've ever read. And while dealing with such somber topics as HIV/AIDS, alcoholism, domestic violence/abuse, gay bashing, and ignorance and bigotry, Alex Sanchez never loses hope or lets the picture he paints become too bleak. Inspirational and fun, quirky yet serious, Rainbow Boys won't soon be lost nor forgotten.

Well Written - Believable!

In my quest to read and make available in local schools the literature of diversity I purchased and read this book. Being a middle school teacher I read get to read a lot of adolescent literature and this is notable, not only for it's realistic treatment of the topic - love between teenage boys - but also quality of prose. Never trite and it doesn't attempt too hard to use the lingo of the generation - it reads real. The three primary characters are representative of kids i work with daily.

Brilliant: I see a TV series in the making here

Alex Sanchez has written a book that is a real page turner. This has to become an insightful and compelling, dramady series on television. It is serious and humorous in the same way that all of our lives reveal themselves to us. The plot and characters live in the complex culture of American adolscence with all of its usual challenges of family, friends, and future decisions about college and life choices. Jason, Kyle and Nelson have the added challenge of uncovering that they are gay in a primarily straight world.As a former high school teacher I could relate to all of the "usual" challenges of students. As a straight person I had never had the privilidge of being invited to examine the angst and strenght that young people experience in coming to terms with their gayness during these already quizzicale years. Mr. Sanchez writes about the tender affections and great concern of the boys parents for their sons, so touchingly. He shows the struggle for acceptance from self and school friends with great diginity. And he walks us so honestly through the interior lives of the main characters and the supporting cast with the solemnity and humor that breathes life into the page. This novel presents us with a slice of life that is real in many families. It shows us that it is time that we all work on learning much more about all life choices in order to understand and love each other more as the complex human beings that we truly are. Bravo and thank you, Mr. Sanchez. I look forward to your next novel with great anticipation.

Brilliant Love Story About Gay High School Seniors

This is the best book I've read all year. Mr. Sanchez is truly a gifted writer and proved it with this debut work. I immediately fell in love with all three of his characters (okay, I mostly fell in love with Jason). The drama that Sanchez so beautifully built into this story had me teary-eyed at just about every other chapter. That's the kind of story I love the most: one that can make me feel exactly what the characters are feeling. What an amazing love story he portrayed, what with Jason struggling to come out, with Kyle trying his best to get Jason to love him, and Nelson trying to get Kyle to understand that he loves him. I'm so glad everything turned out on a positive note. In addition to the storyline, I really like Sanchez's writing style: the use of concise phrases, and some very witty ones as well, to convey a lot of information was right on target. I can't wait to read something else by this author.