Vade Mecum

by Lee Benoit

André is a confused and angry fourteen-year-old boy whose aunt rescues him from state care after the death of his mother. She takes him to live with her motley extended family in a ramshackle old house. Against the backdrop of plans for a most unconventional wedding, André finds himself increasingly helpless to resist the charms of his eccentric aunt, moody grandfather, and sexy tutor. This young adult story is ultimately about finding a place to be oneself, and to belong without question.

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

15 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Before dawn and after dark, Lee Benoit is a writer of queer fiction, some contemporary, some speculative, some historical. During the daylight hours she is a professor of sociology & anthropology. In the old days, Lee traveled the world doing field research. Nowadays, she lives in the middle of a New England hayfield where being a two-spirit single parent provides more than enough excitement. Lee also paints watercolors, bakes wild-yeast sourdough bread, and shares her bed with a pair of cats and an abjectly adoring hound-retriever mutt. Whenever she gets itchy feet and misses the world of research and advocacy, Lee invents a new world in her head and takes notes on what happens there.

Reviews

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice short read (YA, not a romance) about a 14-year old boy who ran away from a junkie mother and is found by his family. They are not at all what he expects and the description of how he gets to know them is funny and thought-provoking at the same time.

[Elizabetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

vade mecum, latin for ‘go with me’

The story blurb says it all nicely… André (Andy) has been living on the streets; at fourteen years old he thinks he’s all on his own. Until his extended family finds him and takes him in.

It takes a little while to figure out the connection to Haven and Code Breaking, the first two books in the series, but André’s people live in the same tight community as Tadeo and Haven. André’s grandfather is good friends with them. It’s fourteen years later and Suyai, all grown up and lovely, is now in graduate school. This isn’t about him though. He just stars in André’s lustful dreams.

This moves away from the thread of the AIDs scare of the previous books. It’s about family, and André’s family (remember Mem and Pep from book two?) turn out to be a very alternative-lifestyle clan. André in all his eyeliner fabulousness fits right in.

I’ve come to appreciate this series for its very loosely strung-together vignettes of a certain era. I enjoy the color, the sentiment, and how the author shows the passage of time with these related characters.

For my review of book one: Haven
for book two: Code Switching
for book four: Last Dance

My thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book as it is out of print. My review was not affected by receiving this free copy (other than I could now write it). The author may be contacted at leebenoit@charter.net about copies.

[Mara Ismine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A smut free offering from Torquere! This is an amusing short story about 14 year old Andre meeting, and going to live with, his eccentric extended family after his mother's death.

It was a fun read and my only complaint is that it ended much too soon. I'm hoping that there will be more about these wonderful people.