Bound To Stay Bound

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 We contain multitudes
 Author: Henstra, Sarah

 Publisher:  Little, Brown (2020)

 Classification: Fiction
 Physical Description: 375 p.,  22 cm

 BTSB No: 693299 ISBN: 9780316524650
 Ages: 14-18 Grades: 9-12

 Subjects:
 Dating (Social customs) -- Fiction
 Love -- Fiction
 Gays -- Fiction
 Poetry -- Fiction
 High schools -- Fiction
 School stories
 Letters -- Fiction

Price: $9.01

Summary:
As penpals for a high school English assignment, poetry-loving sophomore Jonathan and popular-athlete senior Adam explore their growing relationship through a series of letters.




Full Text Reviews:

Booklist - 03/01/2019 *Starred Review* Where to begin? This novel’s conceit is that it consists entirely of letters exchanged by two boys as part of a sophomore English class project. Adam Kurlansky and Jonathan Hopkirk (or Kurl and Little Jo, as they address each other) make an unlikely couple. Kurl is taciturn, expressionless, and an erstwhile football player who has quit the team under mysterious circumstances. Little Jo is a short, slender, openly gay boy, who idolizes the poet Walt Whitman, whose words become a leitmotif of this remarkable novel. Both boys are gifted writers, and their letters grow increasingly artful as they get to know each other on and off the page—and subsequently fall in love. However, this is not the denouement but rather the beginning of a closely examined relationship that, as the two unusually introspective boys describe it in their letters, becomes almost philosophical. This is an absolutely extraordinary work of fiction that illustrates how artful epistolary novels can be. Kurl and Jo are characters to die for, emotionally compelling and empathetic. Their quotidian lives are riveting and their story unforgettable. At one point, Jo describes a novel he’s reading by saying, “I can’t even summarize the plot; it’s that strange and sad and marvelous a story.” There’s no better way to describe Henstra’s own novel. It is not to be missed. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 05/01/2019 Gr 9 Up—Henstra's follow-up to Mad Miss Mimic will give romantic and cerebral teens good reason to suspend disbelief. High school sophomore Jonathan and senior Adam are assigned to be correspondents by their English teacher, and it is the ensuing flood of letters that form both the novel and readers' perspective on their evolving relationship. Jonathan is an openly gay kid who models his wardrobe and his language after his literary hero Walt Whitman, while Adam is a private former football star reputed to take no prisoners in fistfights. As their exchange of thoughts and questions develops, however, the two boys discover how much they have in common and how fully the other one brings him into a more complete life and way to consider personal and public options for action. While the extent of the epistolary conceit might beg credulity, plenty of other details here are realistic: the two boys' different but equally troubled families, the important roles siblings play in forming and maintaining one's own identity, and the difficulties inherent in hammering out a healthy, loving relationship among these. VERDICT Teen readers can take heart from Jonathan and Adam's story, especially if they care about Walt Whitman as a gay icon.—Francisca Goldsmith, Library Ronin, Worcester, MA - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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