Not the Only One: Lesbian and Gay Fiction for Teens

by Jane Summer

Collects short stories portraying gay and lesbian teenagers at different moments in their lives.

Genres: Queer, Young Adult, LGBT, Short Stories, Anthologies, Lesbian

302 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Lizzie-Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mrs. Houdini's Wife was my favorite!

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with every short story collection, some of the pieces were much better than the others. Worth the read, though.

[Hallie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am giving this two stars because, in general, it's not a very good anthology. That doesn't mean every story in it is a two-star story. I would give Gregory MacGuire's "The Honorary Shepherds" at least four - the writing reminded me of David Levithan, which is always a plus - and Donna Allegra's "God Lies in the Details" is a solid three. But I was completely squicked out by "Crossing Lines," featuring sex of ambiguous consent between a teenager and a much older man. It was an excerpt from a longer story, which may explain the completely "wtf" nature of the plot, but it didn't seem like a good choice for a teen anthology to me (and in general I am happy for teens to read about any number of things that would probably scandalize their parents). In sum: a few standouts, but mostly a waste of time.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

How come in anthologies like this, there's never any science fiction or fantasy? It can be gay fiction for teens and be genre as well, really!

More of the stories weren't bad. Nothing outstanding though. A lot of them left me unsatisfied. Like 'now what?' or 'so what?' or 'that's all?' I can't say they weren't technically stories, with a character change in them. But they were definitely small stories. The most important moment in a character's life? Not really. /An/ important moment, maybe.

I'm just left feeling like my genre would do better. So, 3 stars. It'd get more with some gay vampires and lesbian zombies.

[Jaq · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was always one of the others growing up, you know the ones who exist on the edges of the school life, and how I wished this book had been around growing up.

Just being able to read about people who didn't fit into the societal norms, would have made it easier to deal with being different from the majority, at least for me.

I enjoyed the different voices, and experiences from each of these tales.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the most part, a disappointing collection. However, this may have been the short-story book I read where the last one was two girls in a boarding school getting expelled..? In that case, yay!

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

YA-NOT

[Leafsong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meaningful- very much including the introduction.

[Ashley]

#
CompNtBk
Borrowed from the library.

FS:

LS:

[Sarah]

Not the Only One: Lesbian and Gay Fiction for Teens by Jane Summer (2004)