5 Gay Coming Of Age Novels

So Hard To Say by Alex Sanchez

Thirteen-year-old Xio, a Mexican American girl, and Frederick, who has just moved to California from Wisconsin, quickly become close friends, but when Xio starts thinking of Frederick as her boyfriend, he must confront his feelings of confusion and face the fear that he might be gay.



Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

The story recounts five years in the life of Augusten Burroughs. His mother, being crazy, gives up her son into the care of her psychiatrist, and life for 12 year old Augusten just gets even crazier. Augusten, coming to terms with his sexuality, begins a relationship with a much older man, which is encouraged by his adoptive family.



Beautiful People by Simon Doonan

In 'beautiful People', Doonan describes his early years in Reading, his move to London and eventually America. The joy of the book is that it is so camp and over the top that you can't help but smile. Early on, Doonan describes writing this autobiography as like having a 'psychological enema' and he lays even the most embarrassing details open for our enjoyment. This was recently turned into a successful BBC TV series.



Sucking Sherbet Lemons by Michael Carson

Following five troubled years of discovery in the life of Martin Benson. The story starts when Benson is thirteen years of age, in the early 1960s. Benson is overweight, very religiously inclined, not a popular boy and the constant target of bullies at the school which he attends.

He is constantly perturbed by the conflict of his religious beliefs and what he perceives as his unnatural liking for boys and enjoys fantasies involving other lads.

He is also a founder member of the Rude Club, where he enjoys some intimate explorations, and is fascinated by the more adventurous Bruno.



Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim

VERY controversial coming of age tale with a twist, Mysterious Skin tracks a decade in the life of two teenage boys in small town America, following them from their school yard days through early teens and adolescence until they eventually become the adults their childhood selves must concede to.

The innocence of Brian Lackey - one of the book's two main characters - is sharply contrasted by the knowing cynicism of his superficially unlikely ally, Neil McCormick. Neil is as sinister as Brian is guileless, but the shared childhood experience that links the two boys moves beyond the boundaries of a straightforward struggle between the "good" character and the one the reader initially assumes to be the "bad."