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Gay Youth Literature
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Counter play A high school football novel about friends Brad and Alex, one straight, one gay. Alex’s sexuality is revealed in the first few pages, but remains central to the plot, as Brad is forced to choose between his friend and his wider community. Anne Snyder (1922-2001) wrote seventeen books, mainly young adult ‘problem novels’ which explored issues such as alcoholism, homelessness and anorexia. She collaborated with Louis Pelletier on several titles. Originally marketed as an adult novel, ‘Counter Play’ was republished in 1987 as ‘The Truth about Alex’ and was adapted into a television movie of the same name, broadcast by HBO. Teen heartthrob Scott Baio (Chachi from ‘Happy Days’) played the character of Brad.
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Independence day “What does it mean when you fall in love with your best friend?”, asks the cover of this coming-of-age story, which depicts identically clad high-school students Mike and Todd. Mike decides to tell Todd how he feels about him on 4 July – Independence Day in the US – and although Todd does not feel the same, this proto-Young Adult novel models understanding and acceptance. By its close, Mike has “dated several guys” in college and is taking a course “to become a counselor to gay kids”. B.A. Ecker includes a reference to another of the books erroneously seized in ‘Operation Tiger’, Patricia Nell Warren’s ‘The Front Runner’ (1974), which Mike “really found some comfort reading”. ‘Independence Day’ appears to be Ecker’s only published work.
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There must be a pony! Written in a style distinctly reminiscent of J.D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ (1951), this is the story of “sensitive” sixteen-year-old Josh, his film star mother Rita Cydney, and her relationship with the mysterious Ben. Its queer content is largely subtextual, but a 1963 write-up in the ‘Mattachine Review’ by Gene Damon (pseudonym of legendary lesbian bibliographer Barbara Grier) noted its “sensitive handling of a boy’s first comprehension of homosexuality, with the aid of an older, well-presented man”. ‘There Must Be a Pony!’ was adapted into a television drama in 1986, starring Elizabeth Taylor as Rita. James Kirkwood (1924-1989) stated in an interview that the book was based on his own relationship with his mother, actress and silent film star Lila Lee, about whom he said, “She should have had puppies or kittens, not a kid”. Kirkwood’s ‘'P.S. Your Cat is Dead’ was also seized in ‘Operation Tiger’.