Reading Rainbow:
PGN’s picks for great summer books
(direct link to review)
Drama Queers!
By Frank Anthony Polito
Fiction
"Drama Queers!” is the 1980s version of “High School Musical” — only with characters who are a bit more overtly gay.
Polito’s novel follows the senior year of Brad Dayton, an aspiring actor struggling to break out of the confines of his small Michigan town and make it big on the stage. On top of the typical high-school stresses — college applications, after-school jobs and parental clashes — Brad’s also struggling with his sexuality. While he’s accepted that he’s gay, he’s still trying to find the “right moment” to share this news with his loved ones. The one friend he did come out to distanced himself from Brad, perhaps to alleviate suspicion about his own questionable sexuality, and Brad finds himself delving into several new romantic endeavors on his own without counsel from his friends or family.
“Drama Queers!” is a comedic, coming-of-age story that allows the reader to trace Brad’s gradual maturity as he muddles through teen angst to reconcile his own identity and goals. The novel is written from the first-person perspective, and takes on an almost diary-like fashion as Brad candidly dishes about his latest crushes and other teen turmoil.
The book is saturated with 1980s culture, each chapter previewed by lyrics from an ’80s song and with Brad’s frequent tangents about television, music and movie icons from the decade. And while such references may resonate with the over-30 crowd, this population might tire of the teen soap-opera nature of the novel. If you can get accustomed to Brad’s recurrent gushing and exaggerated use of words like “sooo” and “like,” his unrest is endearing and engaging and has the ability to transport the reader to days when the future was wide open and the present was all that mattered.
— Jen Colletta
