First Impressions: Different for Boys
Jamie Lumetta
Patrick Ness is an American-British gay author who has won multiple awards for both his young adult fiction novels and stage adapted stories. Many of his young adult books explore queer experiences, including Different for Boys. Different for Boys follows main character Anthony Stevenson’s experience as he comes to understand his sexuality as well as how his friendships, masculinity, and sex are different for boys who like boys, hence the title. Anthony recounts and reflects on his relationships both past and present with three of his closest friends, each of whom are in very different places in their journeys.
In a world where many people who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community still feel the need to come out, Ness explores the phases that an individual may go through as they begin their journey. There are people like Charlie, who is still refusing to accept his own identity and projects his issues onto others. And there are people like Jack, who is out and seems to be living proudly as he is. And there are even people like Josh, who is mistaken as part of the community constantly. But Ness tells the story from Anthony’s perspective. Anthony knows deep down that he’s gay too but is not quite ready to come out like Jack. But at the same time, he’s not going to take his internalized homophobia out onto other people, like Charlie.
Unlike Ness’ previous books, however, he blacks out certain phrases and words in Different for Boys. This technique fits the message of the novel, though, because Ness is highlighting the journey and the self-discovery element of coming out, not the physical experiences or even the dialogue, which is what he blacks out. Additionally, the illustrations and format of the book make Different for Boys extremely easy to read. Short sentences and chapters hit the reader with a memorable impact of Ness’ purpose, and we get a sense of Anthony’s voice. For example, “Doesn’t mean they’re not still nice people. Jack is gay. I know, because last summer, he told me. And in return, I lied to him.”
Overall, instead of a story, Ness seems to be pouring an experience onto pages, possibly his own, but more likely, an experience of many people within the community. Different for Boys is a book that many people can relate to, regardless of their identity or place in the community, as it is about the individual's experience. Personally, I understand the confusion of wondering what a relationship means to the other person. The “What are they thinking?'' feeling is something that Anthony seems to experience with Charlie, leading him to consider his thoughts about the relationship too. I believe that people going through their own journey of acceptance can relate to Ness’ book as well as see that things do get better with time.
