The Evolution of Ethan Poe
Won five categories in the 2011 Rainbow Awards
Won 2012 ALA Rainbow List designation
Ethan Poe, sixteen and gay, struggles for balance while his life conspires to pull him in many different directions. His parents are divorcing; his older brother Kyle is damaging his right hand in the name of purity; his best friend is a Jesus freak who prays for him to be straight; he’s desperate to get his driver's license, but he can’t seem to get enough supervised driving time. He’s just starting to see light in the form of Max Modine, a boy he wants to know much better than he does, when his rural Maine town begins to explode around him. Against his intentions he gets pulled into a pitched and sometimes violent conflict about whether to introduce Intelligent Design into science classrooms. Friendships end, families are torn apart, and the school becomes a battleground.
Always seeking elusive balance, Ethan finds his way through a maze of lost friends, new love, and the mysteries of tattoos and power animals, with help from quarters where he never expected to find it. And he gains something better than balance.
News & Events
Also New This Year
A LINE IN THE SAND (June 2011, Cheyenne Publishing)
This novella is my contribution to an anthology entitled AWAKE. Proceeds will benefit The Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to ending suicide among LGBTQ youth.
What could have been just another summer vacation on Hilton Head Island for 15-year-old, out-and-proud Dustin Hamilton takes turn after turn as his infatuation for the exotic Randy Aziz spins him in different directions. Dustin's clear but unspoken challenge to Randy, "Come out of the closet for me, just for a week," receives first a tentative and then a joyful "Yes!" from Randy. The boys spend days, and a very special evening, on the beach together, learning that their lives are similar in;some surprising ways. But coming out takes Randy in a direction neither boy predicted. It's a summer the boys--and their families--will never forget.
AWAKE placed 5th (honorable mention) in the 2011 Rainbow Awards for Best Coming of Age / YA.
Other News
Many readers have asked why I write what I write. See the answer to this and other questions in the Michele N Jeff interview.
Blogger Elisa Rolle has posted a list of my top ten books. Care to know what they are?
Ramble Redhead episode 290 from June 16, 2009: Fascinating and fun conversation with the illustrious Ramble Redhead himself! Check it out.
