Hall, John (2006). Is He or Isn't He?. NY: Harper Collins (HarperTeen). ISBN: 0060787473. 304 pages.
Yet another in a long line of popular romance fiction--M or F?, A Novel Idea, and The Hookup Artist are three that come to mind--in which a teen girl and her gay, male best friend attempt to determine the gender of some object of their admiration. The thing that I find interesting is how troublesome the question appears to be when the main characters (both gay and straight) and their friends are portrayed as ueber-tolerant and hate-free. It's like the issue of gender only arises when it furthers the farsical element of the plot, otherwise everyone is Just Fabulous. In Hall's novel, best friends Paige and Anthony find themselves crushing on the same guy, Max, a new boy at their school who is the son of a famous TV chef. Max is friendly and even flirty with both friends and Paige and Anthony engage in some minor competition as they try to encourage Max to make a more overt romantic move and thus "solidify" his identity as gay or straight. Secondary characters emerge who might prove better matches for the main characters; alas, at the end of the novel, these dark horses are beheld in light and Max (who turns out to be straight) pales in comparison. |
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