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Coming Out
Seven Slade, author
A long time ago, on a playground far, far away, an awkward boy with two mothers and a penchant for pink shirts shook a tough girl’s hand over the rattled frame of a deposed playground bully.
Tamsyn promised to be Rodrigo’s bodyguard if he’d draw her pictures of girls wearing superhero capes. Rodrigo promised to be Tamsyn’s buddy if she’d let him braid her hair.
A deal, struck. A partnership, forged. And the timid gay boy and the fearless straight girl became inseparable.
Now college graduation looms, and Rodrigo questions his place in the world. He has no boyfriend. No job. And a sudden—arousing—fascination with the female body. Correction: with Tamsyn’s body.
Then one night, a golden ticket from a broken piñata introduces him to the man he’s wanted for years. Now he’s torn between pursuing these strange feelings for Tamsyn or following the guy of his dreams.
Best friends forever.
If love doesn’t break them up first.
Reviews
Slade’s clever contemporary romance deposits best friends Tamsyn Archer and Rodrigo Vega-Goldstein into a screwball comedy of sexual misinterpretation. They’ve been friends since the second grade, when tough butch Syn defended Rigo (who’s “queer as a left-handed, blue-footed boobie”) against a bully who teased him for wearing a pink shirt. Now they’re 22 and still stuck in their tiny hometown of Middle, N.C. Rigo claims to have the hots for the aptly named Simon Sex, the lead singer in a rock band, but Syn worries that he’s setting himself up for a fall if the guy’s not gay. However, when Simon and Rigo finally do meet, it’s a very different sort of disaster: Simon is willing to experiment with gay sex, but all Rigo can think about are Syn’s breasts. And though she’s in a relationship with another woman, Syn secretly yearns for Rigo. Bittersweet fun ensues as each wrestles with the risk of losing a friend by fessing up and coming out as straight. This charming story will win readers’ hearts. (BookLife)
