The House You Pass On the Way

Great story told w honesty and no nonsense. My grandaughter is biracial and has also expressed her feeling like she may like girls. She just turned 9 tho so I must read entire book once more to decide if the content is age appropriate.She is a very wise 9 year old though so Im confident she will not only read it all but in the process will gain greater insight to her personal circumstances and find answers to questions she has openly discussed with me only.The girl on the cover could easily be a photo of my beautiful, smart grandgirl, who has those same beautiful spiral curls! I dont know why some reviewers feel that the content is " Non-Christian and therefore is somehow going to send shameful and sinful ideas and messages to readers! Please! Let's get real and not be afraid to be Real; without overanalyzing and judging its content. News Flash: there are so many biracial girls who have been given the gift of this book;being able to identify and relate to what it is like to feel "different".I get it because I myself am biracial as well, and as an avid book reader as a kid, I wish there were books like this one for which I could feel represented and appreciated.It is a great book to represent diversity, coming of age and celebrating our unique differences ; understanding acceptance in a world that is frought with racial inequality and tension in our society. Add to that the discrimination and intolerance surrounding one's sexual preference or gender identity.If you are a parent or grandparent who believes children should be honored by respecting their feelings and giving them truths and understanding of what they deeply feel is important to them.... and doing so without any sugar coating the facts, then this book is highly recommended.I commend the author for writing books that are indeed controversial but very much appreciated and truly profound for those who see themselves in main characters.Keep up the Great work!

I remember having some of these feelings when I first discovered I liked girls rather than boys. The stolen kisses, glances and making eye connections...yeah that was a time of discovery and innocence.

"seemed like this town, their house, was all just something you passed along the way".Staggerlee is a young woman of fourteen who has taken on a separate identity. She used the titular character of the famous song to honor the point that the character in the song struggled to break out of the gates someone had built around him. For her this rings true, because there are several obstacles she struggles against daily. For one thing her grandparents were famous civil rights activists who were killed for their cause in a bombing some years back. Then there's the fact that Staggerlee is the daughter of a white woman and a black man in a community that is predominately black to begin with and her parents are the only bi-racial couple. This has caused tension in her family on her father's side because his sisters have refused to accept the validity of the marriage and have chosen estrangement in lieu of accepting the marriage. Finally, there's the struggle of Staggerlee's sexuality to deal with. When she was in the sixth grade she kissed a friend named Hazel who immediately shunned her for doing this, so Staggerlee has closeted her feelings towards women thinking them taboo and not something people talk about.When Staggerlee's Aunt Hallique dies her other Aunt Ida Mae sends a letter to her parents telling of it, and that she wishes to send her adopted daughter, Tyler, to visit for the summer. This seems odd to her father, Elijah, that for years they were ignored and then out of nowhere they send their daughter to see them. At first he won't allow it but Staggerlee argues for the visit when she realizes that Tyler is her age, and she sees a photo of her and finds her intriguing. Elijah gives in and when Tyler does arrive she stirs up all sorts of emotions in Staggerlee not unlike her experience with Hazel. Her interest in Tyler is doubled when on their meeting Tyler asks to be called Trout and explains that a trout will fight you with all it's strength to be free when you catch one. This appeals to Staggerlee and the to become fast friends, eventually confessing their mutual attraction to women and what this might mean in the grand scheme of things.This book has so many layers to it, which is amazing considering it's a mere 114 pages long. For the one thing there is the question of race, the ethical and the implications of accepting people for more than just the color of their skin. Second there is the sexual aspect of it. It is so important for young people who are gay to understand that it is not wrong or evil like some narrow minded people would have one believe. Even in this book it is hard for the two girls to say the word "gay" and admit that they might be so, and even when one decides that it is easier to be straight and go along with everything that she "should" be doing the other girl who seems more sure still won't say that she is gay or not. What about our culture makes this a dirty word? Why must we still view movies like "Brokeback Mountain" or books like "The House You Pass on the Way" as "controversial" or "groundbreaking" work? How many more years before work like this is accepted as the social norm? I realize the implications in this book concerning civil rights of course. 40 years ago we were fighting for African American rights and that of other minorities (women's rights, Latino, Asian, senior citizens, etc.) and really one of the last frontiers we have to deal with when it comes to civil rights is to open the doors for the GLBTQ community to be allowed to marry, visit their spouses in the hospital, share benefits such as health insurance and other medical benefits, and be seen as equals, not just a marginalized group. I found the parallels of those two movements fascinating and enjoyed the contrast in the attitudes. Whereas Staggerlee's parents were unaccepted for their choice in love would her parents have been understanding in accepting her for hers?This is a very important book for everyone to read, not just young adults. As a gay woman I see the power of literature like this. As a gay woman I am also offended that this was a title I had to order into the book store I work at because our distributor didn't find it necessary to carry something like this in our children's section. Please, we need more work of this caliber. Everyone needs to realize that these are issues that are present in our world and cannot be ignored as if they are not there because a few people are unwilling to see the truth. Read this book, buy it for a friend, buy it for anyone who wants something with a bit of an edge to it (I shudder to even use the word "edge" as I wish this subject matter wasn't considered "edgy"). Read it because it's something that simply needs to be said.

Story starts promising but turns flat towards the end. It could have been turned into a gripping coming of age story of a young Lesbian..

This book is really beautifully written, and it's so hard to find literature with black LGBTQ characters so that's great, but the love story has a sad ending so don't read it if you're looking for cute, happy lesbian YA.