Openly Straight

Last updated
Openly Straight
Openly Straight.jpg
First edition
Author Bill Konigsberg
LanguageEnglish
Genre Young adult, romance, drama, LGBT, coming of age
Publisher Arthur A. Levine Books
Publication date
May 28, 2013
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audiobook
ISBN 0-545-79865-5
Followed byHonestly Ben 

Openly Straight is a 2013 young adult novel and the second book by American author Bill Konigsberg. The coming-of-age story focuses on high school junior Rafe who has been openly gay since he was in the eighth grade. When he switches to a private all boys high school across the country in Massachusetts he decides to hide his sexuality from his new classmates. The novel has been translated into German, Vietnamese, and Portuguese.

Contents

Synopsis

When Rafe switches to a private all boys high school in Natick, he decides to hide the fact that he is gay, hoping to find a new identity as just Rafe and not just ‘that gay kid’. In an attempt to live a life without labels, Rafe is immediately taken in by the jocks for his soccer abilities. Rafe relishes in being allowed to be a jock and being treated normally in the locker room. Rafe finds a best friend and potential boyfriend called Ben. However, Ben is straight and has no idea about Rafe being gay.

Awards and nominations

The novel won the Sid Fleischman Award for Humor in 2014 [1] and was a finalist for the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. [2] It also made YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults list for 2014; [3] the American Library Association Rainbow List; The Texas Library Association's Tayshas List (as a top ten title); and was nominated for the Georgia Peach Award.

Sequel

In March 2016, Konigsberg released the sequel Honestly Ben, which features Ben as the protagonist. It received three starred reviews: from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and School Library Journal. Both novels in the series were released as audio books that month, too.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sid Fleischman</span> American writer

Albert Sidney Fleischman was an American author of children's books, screenplays, novels for adults, and nonfiction books about stage magic. His works for children are known for their humor, imagery, zesty plotting, and exploration of the byways of American history. He won the Newbery Medal in 1987 for The Whipping Boy and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1979 for Humbug Mountain. For his career contribution as a children's writer he was U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1994. In 2003, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators inaugurated the Sid Fleischman Humor Award in his honor, and made him the first recipient. The Award annually recognizes a writer of humorous fiction for children or young adults. He told his own tale in The Abracadabra Kid: A Writer's Life (1996).

Nancy Garden was an American writer of fiction for children and young adults, best known for the lesbian novel Annie on My Mind. She received the 2003 Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association recognizing her lifetime contribution in writing for teens, citing Annie alone.

The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by Booklist magazine; administered by the ALA's young-adult division, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA); and named for the Topeka, Kansas, school librarian Mike Printz, a long-time active member of YALSA. Up to four worthy runners-up may be designated Honor Books and three or four have been named every year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Fleischman</span> American writer of childrens books

Paul Fleischman is an American writer of children's books. He and his father Sid Fleischman have both won the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". For the body of his work he was the United States author nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Strasser</span> American novelist

Todd Strasser is an American writer of more than 140 young-adult and middle grade novels and many short stories and works of non-fiction, some written under the pen names Morton Rhue and T.S. Rue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. Lockhart</span> American writer

Emily Jenkins, who sometimes uses the pen name E. Lockhart, is an American writer of children's picture books, young-adult novels, and adult fiction. She is known best for the Ruby Oliver quartet, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and We Were Liars.

Allen Zadoff is an American author of young adult fiction. He is mainly known for his young adult novels including the series Wild & Chance and The Unknown Assassin series, as well as the book Boy Nobody. His novel Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have received the 2010 Sid Fleischman Humor Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

<i>Lush</i> (novel) 2006 novel by Natasha Friend

Lush is a young adult fiction novel by Natasha Friend published in 2006 by Milkweed Editions. It focuses on Samantha Gwynn, a thirteen-year-old girl whose father is an alcoholic, which "lush" is another name for. It was listed on the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) 2007 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers released by the American Library Association (ALA). It was also named a 2008 Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. S. King</span> American writer

Amy Sarig King is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction. She is the recipient of the 2022 Margaret Edwards Award for her "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature."

<i>Shine</i> (Myracle novel) 2011 book by Lauren Myracle

Shine is a 2011 young adult mystery novel by Lauren Myracle. The book was published on May 1, 2011, and follows a teenage girl investigating a hate crime involving the beating and near-death of her best friend in a small, North Carolina town. Shine won the 2012 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award and is on the ALA's "YALSA Reader’s Choice" and "Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults" lists for 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Konigsberg</span> American author (born 1970)

Bill Konigsberg is an American author, best known for his LGBT novels. He wrote Out of the Pocket, Openly Straight, The Porcupine of Truth, Honestly Ben, The Music of What Happens, and The Bridge. He lives with his husband outside of Phoenix, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Knudsen</span> American writer

Michelle Knudsen is a New York Times best-selling American children's author. She has written 50 books for children, including the multiple-award-winning Library Lion, the Trelian middle grade fantasy trilogy, and the Evil Librarian young adult horror/comedy/romance trilogy.

Julie Berry is an American author of children's and young adults books and winner of several national book awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Acevedo</span> American poet and author

Elizabeth Acevedo is an American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People's Poet Laureate.

<i>Cemetery Boys</i> 2020 novel by Aiden Thomas

Cemetery Boys is a young adult urban fantasy novel by Aiden Thomas, published September 1, 2020 by Swoon Reads. The book's placement on the New York Times Bestseller List made history as the first book on the list by an openly transgender author featuring a transgender character.

<i>The Field Guide to the North American Teenager</i> 2019 novel by Ben Philippe

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager is a young adult novel by Ben Philippe, published January 8, 2019 by Balzer + Bray.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers is a book list created annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association. The list identifies fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels that may encourage teenagers who dislike reading to read.

Francisco Xavier Stork is a Mexican-American writer. He is best known for his award-winning 2009 book, Marcelo in the Real World.

Shaun David Hutchinson is an American author of young adult texts. His novels often "combine speculative elements with LGBT characters and themes."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Zentner</span> American author

Jeff Zentner is an author of several young adult novels including The Serpent King and In The Wild Light. His adult novel Colton Gentry’s Third Act was on released April 30th, 2024.

References

  1. "SCBWI Sid Fleischman Award Winners" . Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  2. "Walden Award" . Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  3. "YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults" . Retrieved 2018-07-04.