Flamer by Mike Curato

Summary from Goodreads:

Award-winning author and artist Mike Curato draws on his own experiences in Flamer, his debut graphic novel, telling a difficult story with humor, compassion, and love.

I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both.

I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe.

It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes—but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.

Review:

This book is stunning. The artwork just called to me in a way only some graphic novel artwork does. When I learned that this author/artist is the same one who does the picture books, Little Elliot, it all weirdly clicked for me. I love those books too! I remember telling my friend at a library conference, after picking up Little Elliot, Big City, that this author was going to be HUGE. I just knew it. As a children’s librarian, you sometimes just know which books are going to make it and take off.

I’m so excited to see Curato branch out. This was powerful stuff. Some of it was hard for me to read. There were moments I had to take a breath and put the book down. It got dark. When you’re a kid and it’s not just one bad thing, but several in a row, and each feels like the end of the world….I know what it feels like. I’ve never been that kid alone at the chapel with a knife, but my heart ached for him. And I can see so many hearts aching for him and relating to him.

Not all of this is dark. Some of it is boating under the stars and camping. Some of it is inappropriate dick jokes and camping with friends. Some of it is guys growing up in the woods and figuring out who they are. But some of it is feeling all alone and not knowing how to move forward. And some of it is just learning to go one day at a time and seeing that things aren’t always as bad as they originally seem.

What really makes this book stand out is the art. Curato captures facial expressions and humor so well. It’s like he’s been doing this for years. It was like reading a real pro (like Jennifer L. Holm or Lincoln Peirce). And then there’s other pages, where you get these backdrops of the scenery, and it’s beautiful, like something from a fantasy graphic novel. And then comes in the fire metaphor adding a whole other layer. I keep going back to flip through the pages. That’s how visually appealing the whole thing is. It’ s not every day I’d want to return to such a story. 

This was a dark, yet at times humorous story about growing up. It’s not what I expected. It’s both powerful and beautiful. I can see this story helping a lot of people. The artwork is so impressive, I keep returning to it, wanting to look at it some more. I give it a 9/10.