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A review by atvreads
Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada
4.0
“Who would have thought? I was a punk. He did ballet. But together, we discovered there’s so much more to us than the labels we give ourselves.”
CALLING ALL POP PUNK EMOS FROM THE 2000’s! This one’s for you! From the cover, to the title, to the chapter headings, to Wes being a queer kid uncomfy in his predetermined role as TROUBLE, I knew Skater Boy was made for readers like me. Readers who grew up scream singing Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, Blink 182, Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance… the list goes on.
I especially loved the absolute punk rock aspect of not fitting in. Wes is punk, he gets in trouble, he skateboards, he cuts class, but all of that behavior belies greater issues and trauma, and as an educator, I can’t help but fixate on the role educators had in forming Wes’s negative opinion of himself. From that initial grade school teacher calling out Wes from his hair to the other adults who immediately write him off, I see the cracks and problems in our education system. Wes is also as “gay as it gets” but doesn’t feel like he belongs to any part of the community because he’s not effeminate enough. AH THERE is just SO MUCH to dig into here! There’s issues of class, race, abuse, substance abuse disorders, life after high school, being an outsider, found family…
All that to say, Skater Boy is 100% worth the read!
CALLING ALL POP PUNK EMOS FROM THE 2000’s! This one’s for you! From the cover, to the title, to the chapter headings, to Wes being a queer kid uncomfy in his predetermined role as TROUBLE, I knew Skater Boy was made for readers like me. Readers who grew up scream singing Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, Blink 182, Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance… the list goes on.
I especially loved the absolute punk rock aspect of not fitting in. Wes is punk, he gets in trouble, he skateboards, he cuts class, but all of that behavior belies greater issues and trauma, and as an educator, I can’t help but fixate on the role educators had in forming Wes’s negative opinion of himself. From that initial grade school teacher calling out Wes from his hair to the other adults who immediately write him off, I see the cracks and problems in our education system. Wes is also as “gay as it gets” but doesn’t feel like he belongs to any part of the community because he’s not effeminate enough. AH THERE is just SO MUCH to dig into here! There’s issues of class, race, abuse, substance abuse disorders, life after high school, being an outsider, found family…
All that to say, Skater Boy is 100% worth the read!