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Title: Take This Journey
Review: This is an incredibly engaging novel. Some may find the subject matter difficult; I found it refreshingly honest. Much like Mark Kendrick's "Desert Sons," "Leave Myself Behind" is direct and realistic in exploring the highs and lows of young gay men coming to terms with their emotions and their sexuality while they're in the midst of surviving abuse within their dysfunctional families. Unlike "Running With Scissors," which seeks to shock and sarcastically amuse in its account of adolescent turmoil, "Leave Myself Behind" never loses focus on finding ways to survive, heal, and even flourish in spite of the odds (not that there isn't any sarcasm coming from Noah, the narrator -- but he's not consumed by irony). I highly recommend this book to lovers of gay literature, mystery (yes, there's a mystery happening in here, too), and all who know what it's like to find yourself as a teenager who has to become their own parent when the biological parents don't do the job.
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