Come Out, Come Out

June 15, 2024
Coming out is never easy, especially for teens in the small Puget Sound town of Port Promise. Life seems idyllic in Port Promise--it's the kind of place where everyone knows each other and high school sweethearts expect to be together forever. The biggest news lately is the gender-neutral casting for the senior musical, Grease. When 13-year-old Mallory Hammond, an "angry, unhappy" closeted lesbian, disappeared, the townspeople thought she'd finally run away. But to her friends Fern Jensen and Jaqueline De Luca, something about her disappearance felt off. On the night Mal vanished, Fern and Jaq found themselves on the edge of the woods without any recollection of what had happened. Five years later, at a party in those same woods, Fern and Jaq are flooded with horrifying memories of that night. There's no denying it: Mal is dead, and whatever happened to her caused Fern and Jaq to forget their own queerness. The two friends must try to come to terms with their own identities and fix whatever happened that night, even at the risk of their own lives. This strong supernatural thriller tackles the very real issues of homophobia, transphobia, and forced conversion head-on. Parker manages to balance serious discussions of identity and bigotry with genuinely spine-tingling horror. Main characters present white. A poignant blend of queer identity and modern horror. (resources) (Horror. 14-18)

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Starred review from August 1, 2024
Grades 10-12 *Starred Review* Five years ago: two young people are fervently running through the woods to escape something, but they emerge with no recollection or evidence of what happened. Now, senior year is shaping up to be everything Fern and Jaq could seemingly want. Fern, feminine and pristine, is set to crush auditioning for the innocent and charming Sandy in the senior musical, Grease. Jaq is assured a charming future with the sweet and handsome John, whom she's set to join at university in the fall, much to her deeply religious parents' pleasure. All seems to be hetero bliss until a fateful house party near rumored haunted woods brings memories crashing back into Fern and Jaq, and the identities they hid five years ago come bubbling to the surface. Now Fern and Jaq must reconsolidate their lost queerness while solving the disappearance of Mallory, who entered the woods with them five years ago and is now haunting them with a possible vengeance. Haunted moments will appeal to those who enjoy atmospheric, built-up jump scares, which are softened nicely with the brewing of young, sapphic, and gender-expansive love. Alongside supernatural terrors, Parker sheds light on true worldly horrors within the work: the perpetuation of compulsive heterosexuality ideals by religious zealots and the disregard of young people's identities at the hands of their parents.

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August 30, 2024

Gr 9 Up-This LGBTQIA+ novel will appeal to mystery and horror fans alike. Jaq and Fern know each other but don't run in the same circles. Jaq is seemingly living her best life with her church friends and perfect boyfriend. Fern is aiming to snag the lead role of Sandy in their senior musical, Grease. But when they attend a party and get lost together in the woods, they realize their lives were once more heavily intertwined. This book is an important discussion about, and a look into, the lives of LGBTQIA+ kids living in conservative religious communities. The horror aspect, an allegory for their trauma at the hands of their own family and friends, is sadly relatable and something that is a true issue in society today. While this novel explores important topics, the pacing, the large cast of characters, and the number of points of view can pull readers out of the story. VERDICT Recommended for those who are looking to see themselves in a book and readers who prefer minimal horror elements and a slower pace.-Tegan Beese

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