Billy Merrell

Literary Merit: Low
Characterization: Poor
Recommended: no
Level: High school

Vanilla is about the growth of the relationship between Hunter and Vanilla. They have been boyfriends from a very young age and as they start to grow up and explore what their own views of sexuality and how different those views are.
This book explores different forms of sexuality, one of which is asexuality. This is not a topic very often focused on, especially in YA books, but it doesn't come across as very positive or helpful in it's exploration.
A teen who is asexual may be happy to see that reflected in a character, but I personally feel like it is almost harmful in some of the ways it is discussed and criticized by some of the other characters in the book.
Vanilla is also a book in verse, which may attract fans of Ellen Hopkins and the likes but I'm afraid they will be sadly disappointed. The writing felt very choppy, was hard to follow at times and left this reader having a hard time connecting to the story and characters.… (altro)

This is a collection of short stories, essays, and poems written by LGBTQ young adults about their experiences. It covers everything from romance, coming out, finding their identities, and just living their day to day lives. The reading is sometimes powerful, sometimes emotional, sometimes painful or joyful, and always very honest. This book would be excellent for young LGBTQ people to learn of other people having experiences similar to theirs, to show them that they are not alone. It would be excellent for anyone as a window into lifestyles that are not well understood by many people outside of it.… (altro)