Way To Go / Tom Ryan
Danny thinks he must be the only seventeen-year-old guy in Cape Breton-in Nova Scotia, maybe-who doesn't have his life figured out. His buddy Kierce has a rule for every occasion, and his best friend Jay has bad grades, no plans and no worries. Danny's dad nags him about his post-high-school plans, his friends bug him about girls and a run-in with the cops means he has to get a summer job. Worst of all, he's keeping a secret that could ruin everything.
Discussion Questions:
-What better place to write a story about than Deep Cove in Cape Breton? Have you ever been lucky enough to spend any time in Nova Scotia? What Danny wants to run away from, Denise was running to. Please comment on the the similarity of the motivation for both characters.
-What was the climate for young gay men at the time that this book was set in, the mid 1990's? Do you think that the same attitude is true of society today? It it better or worse?
-This simple, straightforward book is one of figuring out in your teen hood who you and have the courage to accept it. True of anyone, gay or straight. Please comment on this statement.
I haven't had the pleasure of visiting in Nova Scotia but I hope to one day. I think the main thing both Danny and Denise were running away or to was acceptance. For Danny he wanted to get to a place where he would be able to be himself without having everyone he loved hate him or judge him. While Denise was running to the place where she wanted to find that.
ReplyDeleteIn the mid 1990's the climate for young gay men was general nonacceptance, while there were big urban places like New York or San Francisco where they were accepted, the general population did not. And I do believe that while the areas might have grown where gay people are accepted still a large chunk of the population is not accepting.
ReplyDeleteI think the statement is scarily accurate. Teen hood is the time where no one is really sure of themselves. We're figuring out our lives and who are and who we want to be. But in time we will find the courage to figure out those things about ourselves we were once so unsure of.
ReplyDeleteI thought this book was very sweet. I liked the acceptance that Danny was struggling to get and how we got to see in his mind how he thought of the situation. His vulnerability was endearing and the author did a really good job at making me feel for him. He exploited Keirce in a way that made me immediately place him as a villain in the story. He portrayed Lisa in a great way and all the characters seemed to fit together perfectly! It was a great story! And I loved JP.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this book. It had a great message and is a really great story. It brings up a lot of issues that teenagers face today. It was very touching and i learned quite a bit from it.
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