July 28, 2010.
I was told that The Huffington Post has published a short list of books dealing with and aimed at young homosexual men and women, so I glanced at the few I have in this part of the HIC Library.
I was surprised to see one that is by two people who were connected to the university where our Homosexual Information Center/Don Slater Collection is: California State University Northridge.
Counter Play, by Anne Snyder (and Louis Pelletier), was published by New American Library/Signet in 1981. A teenage boy, whose military family moved often, finally gets to a high school he is able to adjust to and likes football and finds one close friend, with whom he has a working football relationship and goes camping.
Later in the school year the friend tells the boy he is homosexual. The boy deals with it, but the friend is later falsely accused of trying to have sex with a trucker — and is exposed. This creates problems for both boys.
The story is well told and is handled well. It shows how just having a homosexual friend can harm a non-homosexual. There is a happy ending.
The fact that the two authors were connected with CSUN is interesting, since that means they were already thinking of the issues, and might even now deal with them and perhaps help CSUN students learn about the issues and the resources available.
And I don’t understand why the authors have not been able to turn this good book into a TV special movie. (Pelletier has been connected with Disney)
There may be a need for a discussion of good books, for those who still read, that are helpful for young people dealing with sexuality.
