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Exiled To Iowa. Send Help. And Couture (2000)

by Chris O'Guinn(Favorite Author)

4.18 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

review 1: Can snark, irony, Zest for life and coture counteract homophobia and bullies? Will the best attempts at stoicism end in tears? Read how Chris O'Guinn, author of Fearless, once again uses a victorious voice that brings YA into a solid maturity.Quote: "He was the hardest person to figure out I had ever met, which was saying something. I knew girls, after all…."One of my all time favorite books.
review 2: This book was chosen for me by Elci for the YA GLBT Group’s February “pick it for me” challenge – thanks Elci!!Ok, caveat… I don’t usually do book reviews, mainly because I am never sure that my take on things will be of any use to anybody else but, here goes….This is the story of 15 year old Collin, who moves with his family from Santa Monica to ... moreBurford, Iowa. This is apparently a terrible thing… now I am a Brit who has never been to the US and whilst I know general stuff about the Country I knew nothing about Burford and next to nothing about Iowa, not to mention why moving there might be so terrible…. cue me going off to scour the internet to try find some more info so I can make some comparisons… the best I could come up with was someone being forced to move from somewhere like the glamorous parts of Manchester to, say, Grimsby… and no I’ve nothing against GrimsbyCollin, who is gay and at the start not out to anyone but his brother, narrates his story. He admits to being flamboyant and occasionally flaming, with a love of “couture” and all things shiny, particularly belt buckles…. His dim view of his new town is brightened from the outset by the discovery of a small boutique clothing store, which he eventually locates with the help of new friend Keith and his sister Becca. The story follows Collin as he settles into his new life and school, where he is subject to bullying, he befriends Alex, the school’s resident “psycho” (who turns out to have secrets of his own), starts a drama club and reforms the entire school’s wardrobe whilst obtaining a job working at the clothing shop. Despite the misunderstanding regarding Becca, the drama of Collin’s first relationship, his coming out and the results of the same I felt that the was somewhat predicable and for me the whole thing was a little too shiny and Glee-esque (ok, that was possibly the whole drama club thing – including the ability to find funding for and put on Moulin Rouge in a matter of weeks).As much as I liked Collin’s character I found I had more interest in and sympathy with Alex, particularly his back story, I loved that Collin’s parents were so supportive (particularly his mother providing the book on gay relationships) but found that some of the minor characters, particularly the teaching staff were a little one dimensional. The character that shone though for me was Keith, who appears to be on the Autistic Spectrum and has OCD, his calm acceptance and tolerance not to mention his definition of friendship were spot on.Overall I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to others as a light, quick and easy read that isn’t going to challenge any sensibilities.I've rated it as 4* but probably 3.5* is closer (I round up!) less

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