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A timely read for middle schoolers about book banning

‘Answers in the Pages’ a ripped-from-the-headlines summer treat for kids, adults

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(Book cover image courtesy of Knopf)

‘Answers in the Pages’
By David Levithan
c.2022 Alfred A. Knopf
$17.99/176 pages
Ages 8 to 12

In “Answers in the Pages,” the acclaimed queer children’s and young adult author David Levithan’s newest novel for middle-schoolers, just one sentence (less than a paragraph) in a book disrupts the lives of the students in Mr. Howe’s fifth-grade class.

In this book-banning age, few books (for children, parents, teachers, librarians and all who cherish the freedom to read) are more timely than “Answers in the Pages.”

Mr. Howe has assigned the class to read “The Adventurers,” an action-adventure middle-school novel about three kids. (“The Adventurers” is a fictitious novel that Levithan has conjured.) 

As you’ve likely guessed, the sentence that creates the uproar implies that, maybe, there’s a queer quotient involved in the love that Rick and Oliver in “The Adventurers” have for each other.

“At that moment Rick knew just how deeply he loved Oliver,” the sentence says, “and Oliver knew just how deeply he loved Rick, and the understanding of this moment would lead them to much of the happiness and adventure that came next.”

This sentence is, as Donovan Johnson, a fifth-grader in the class, says, “a bit long.”

Few people would have paid attention to this sentence “if it had been said during a TV show,” Donovan says, “or appeared as a quote in the middle of a newspaper article.”

But the sentence appears at the end of “The Adventurers,” and because fifth-graders were required to read it, everybody’s buzzing about it.

Neither Mr. Howe, who’s gay, nor his students are worried that Rick and Oliver might be gay. But Donovan’s mom is.

Donovan brought “The Adventurers” home to read. After reading for a while, he got up and had a snack. While he was snacking, Donovan left the book on the kitchen counter. That was a big mistake, but it jumpstarts the narrative of “Answers in the Pages.”

Donovan’s mom finds the book. She’s a good person who loves her son. But like many kind people, she’s homophobic.

Mrs. Johnson glances through “The Adventurers.” Like many who browse a book, she doesn’t read the whole thing. Her eyes land on the sentence about the love Rick and Oliver feel for each other.

Mrs. Johnson believes that “The Adventurers” is “inappropriate” for fifth graders and challenges the book.

As so often happens in these situations, the kids involved are caught in the middle. Do they side with their parents who challenge a book? Or with their teacher and the kids who support the book?

This is tough for Donovan. His mom won’t tell him why she doesn’t want his class to read the book. She just says “The Adventurers” is inappropriate. Donovan is fairly sure he’s not queer. But he likes the book and has gay friends. One of the girls in his class has two moms.

Book banning is so much in the news. It would be easy to tune out  “Answers in the Pages,” if it had been written by an author without Levithan’s prodigious talent. Levithan tells Donovan’s story in an engaging, nuanced fashion.

Donovan’s mom, though homophobic, isn’t an ogre. Through Donovan’s first-person narration, you learn what it’s like for the people in the school community to go through a book challenge.

Most important for young readers, Donovan and his classmates fight against the book challenge. They learn that you can take action when faced with censorship. Levithan intertwines two other narratives with Donovan’s story.

Excerpts from “The Adventurers” are deftly spliced throughout “Answers in the Pages.” Rick and Oliver’s adventures may not be interesting if you’re over 12, but they’ll entertain middle schoolers.

A third narrative of first love runs through “Answers in the Pages.” A generation before Donovan and his classmates, two fifth-graders, Roberto Garcio and Gideon White become friends when they’re assigned to work on a project related to “Harriet the Spy,” the iconic children’s book by queer author Louise Fitzhugh.

Roberto and Gideon, who love turtles, chocolate and each other,  experience their first love. 

“Answers in the Pages” is a fab, ripped-from-the-headlines summer read for kids and the adults in their lives.

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Books

How one gay Catholic helped change the world

‘A Prince of a Boy,’ falls short of author’s previous work

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(Book cover image via Amazon)

Brian McNaught, the pioneering gay activist and author of 1986’s “On Being Gay” and 1993’s “Gay Issues in the Workplace,” has written a personal account about his Catholic faith and homosexuality. It is a memoir without much substance.  

“A Prince of a Boy: How One Gay Catholic Helped Change the World” (Cascade Books) is a strong personal statement by McNaught. He helped change family relationships. He helped change attitudes about homosexuality. He helped change workplaces, but the world?

In January 2023, the Catholic News Service reported that Pope Francis announced that, “being homosexual is not a crime.” In December 2023, NPR reported that Pope Francis approved “Catholic blessings for same-sex couples, but not for marriage.” Francis died Monday at age 88. Although Catholics may not see homosexuality as a crime, they see sex outside of marriage as a sin. They see same-sex marriage as a sin.

In 2021, Gallup reported that membership in the Catholic Church had declined 20 percent since 2000. In 2025, the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study found that nearly 40 percent of Americans identified as Protestant, while the same study found that only 19 percent identified as Catholic.

McNaught devotes much of his book to his life as a gay Catholic. It is challenging to read about his personal struggle. Some readers may find it interesting. Others might find it boring. Catholic readers may find it more compelling than Protestant readers.

As the above statistics prove, McNaught has much more work to do to change the Catholic Church’s views about homosexuality. We should be glad for his contribution to the debate within the Catholic Church. We should pray for full acceptance of gays in the Catholic Church.

“A Prince of a Boy” becomes more interesting when McNaught describes his work as an educator on LGBTQ issues. He has had an impact on workplace policies, academic programs, and public education, and his lectures, books, and other materials are widely used. 

Based on my experience in the federal government and volunteering with LGBTQ organizations from the Bay Area to Washington, D.C., I believe McNaught’s work as an educator has improved LGBTQ lives, careers, and families. During the Clinton administration, I gave many copies of “Gay Issues in the Workplace” to personnel directors. I felt their staff could benefit from reading it. I thought it would help the lives and careers of my federal LGBTQ colleagues.

McNaught’s “A Prince of a Boy” was released in December 2024. Anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant died the same month. Bryant campaigned against a gay rights law in Florida. She began a national campaign against gays.

When Bryant successfully reversed a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida, McNaught wrote the important essay “Dear Anita, Late Night Thoughts of an Irish Catholic Homosexual.” The essay is not in “A Prince of a Boy”; however, McNaught mentions Bryant.

In his training programs, McNaught describes homosexuals as journeying from confusion to denial to acceptance to pride. “Anita Bryant and AIDS brought Gay people to identity pride very quickly,” McNaught writes. San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk (1930-1978) and other activists reached similar conclusions about Bryant’s vicious anti-gay campaign.

McNaught helped change the LGBTQ world and brought pride to many people’s lives. McNaught walks in pride, works in pride, and educates others in pride. 

“A Prince of a Boy” is a disappointing book. It provides small details about Brian McNaught’s large, proud life. A meaningful biography about this great gay leader is long overdue.

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Books

‘Pronoun Trouble’ reminds us that punctuation matters

‘They’ has been a shape-shifter for more than 700 years

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(Book cover image courtesy of Avery)

‘Pronoun Trouble’
By John McWhorter
c.2025, Avery
$28/240 pages

Punctuation matters.

It’s tempting to skip a period at the end of a sentence Tempting to overuse exclamation points!!! very tempting to MeSs with capital letters. Dont use apostrophes. Ask a question and ignore the proper punctuation commas or question marks because seriously who cares. So guess what? Someone does, punctuation really matters, and as you’ll see in “Pronoun Trouble” by John McWhorter, so do other parts of our language.

Conversation is an odd thing. It’s spontaneous, it ebbs and flows, and it’s often inferred. Take, for instance, if you talk about him. Chances are, everyone in the conversation knows who him is. Or he. That guy there.

That’s the handy part about pronouns. Says McWhorter, pronouns “function as shorthand” for whomever we’re discussing or referring to. They’re “part of our hardwiring,” they’re found in all languages, and they’ve been around for centuries.

And, yes, pronouns are fluid.

For example, there’s the first-person pronoun, I as in me and there we go again. The singular I solely affects what comes afterward. You say “he-she IS,” and “they-you ARE” but I am. From “Black English,” I has also morphed into the perfectly acceptable Ima, shorthand for “I am going to.” Mind blown.

If you love Shakespeare, you may’ve noticed that he uses both thou and you in his plays. The former was once left to commoners and lower classes, while the latter was for people of high status or less formal situations. From you, we get y’all, yeet, ya, you-uns, and yinz. We also get “you guys,” which may have nothing to do with guys.

We and us are warmer in tone because of the inclusion implied. She is often casually used to imply cars, boats, and – warmly or not – gay men, in certain settings. It “lacks personhood,” and to use it in reference to a human is “barbarity.”

And yes, though it can sometimes be confusing to modern speakers, the singular word “they” has been a “shape-shifter” for more than 700 years.

Your high school English teacher would be proud of you, if you pick up “Pronoun Trouble.” Sadly, though, you might need her again to make sense of big parts of this book: What you’ll find here is a delightful romp through language, but it’s also very erudite.

Author John McWhorter invites readers along to conjugate verbs, and doing so will take you back to ancient literature, on a fascinating journey that’s perfect for word nerds and anyone who loves language. You’ll likely find a bit of controversy here or there on various entries, but you’ll also find humor and pop culture, an explanation for why zie never took off, and assurance that the whole flap over strictly-gendered pronouns is nothing but overblown protestation. Readers who have opinions will like that.

Still, if you just want the pronoun you want, a little between-the-lines looking is necessary here, so beware. “Pronoun Trouble” is perfect for linguists, writers, and those who love to play with words but for most readers, it’s a different kind of book, period.

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Books

New book helps vulnerable people to stay safe

Tips for overcoming crippling effects of fear

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(Book cover image courtesy of Beacon Press)

‘The Cost of Fear’
By Meg Stone
c.2025, Beacon Press
$26.95/232 pages

The footsteps fell behind you, keeping pace.

They were loud as an airplane, a few decibels below the beat of your heart. Yes, someone was following you, and you shouldn’t have let it happen. You’re no dummy. You’re no wimp. Read the new book, “The Cost of Fear” by Meg Stone, and you’re no statistic. Ask around.

Query young women, older women, grandmothers, and teenagers. Ask gay men, lesbians, and trans individuals, and chances are that every one of them has a story of being scared of another person in a public place. Scared – or worse.

Says author Meg Stone, nearly half of the women in a recent survey reported having “experienced… unwanted sexual contact” of some sort. Almost a quarter of the men surveyed said the same. Nearly 30 percent of men in another survey admitted to having “perpetrated some form of sexual assault.”

We focus on these statistics, says Stone, but we advise ineffectual safety measures.

“Victim blame is rampant,” she says, and women and LGBTQ individuals are taught avoidance methods that may not work. If someone’s in the “early stages of their careers,” perpetrators may still hold all the cards through threats and career blackmail. Stone cites cases in which someone who was assaulted reported the crime, but police dropped the ball. Old tropes still exist and repeating or relying on them may be downright dangerous.

As a result of such ineffectiveness, fear keeps frightened individuals from normal activities, leaving the house, shopping, going out with friends for an evening.

So how can you stay safe?

Says Stone, learn how to fight back by using your whole body, not just your hands. Be willing to record what’s happening. Don’t abandon your activism, she says; in fact, join a group that helps give people tools to protect themselves. Learn the right way to stand up for someone who’s uncomfortable or endangered. Remember that you can’t be blamed for another person’s bad behavior, and it shouldn’t mean you can’t react.

If you pick up “The Cost of Fear,” hoping to learn ways to protect yourself, there are two things to keep in mind.

First, though most of this book is written for women, it doesn’t take much of a leap to see how its advice could translate to any other world. Author Stone, in fact, includes people of all ages, genders, and all races in her case studies and lessons, and she clearly explains a bit of what she teaches in her classes. That width is helpful, and welcome.

Secondly, she asks readers to do something potentially controversial: she requests changes in sentencing laws for certain former and rehabilitated abusers, particularly for offenders who were teens when sentenced. Stone lays out her reasoning and begs for understanding; still, some readers may be resistant and some may be triggered.

Keep that in mind, and “The Cost of Fear” is a great book for a young adult or anyone who needs to increase alertness, adopt careful practices, and stay safe. Take steps to have it soon.

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