ELA Responce Freak Show

I had been eying the book Freak Show by James St. James for a while. I had read the blurb at least 20 times, a story about a gay, cross dressing boy who moves to some swampy, all-white-republican, play-by-the-rules town in Florida. I finally decided to grab the book on my way out of the library, hoping for a interesting book. I was wrong. This book isn't just INTERESTING. It was as if you had taken the life of this boy, and autopsied it. To be completely honest, I cried. Books haven't made me really just bawl since I read Esperanza Rising in fourth grade. It was easy to guess from the first page that Billy was going to have hard times. But the book wasn't ever predictable.

As I read through this book I noticed again, I couldn't find any Archetypes to drop Billy or his straight (?) love-interest Flip into. The storyline of this book was like a complicated dance. The charecters spun and wove themselves around in circles, back and forth. It didn't always revolve around Billy. Not always, just usually. I don't know if Billy is quite a Hero, but he's definitely a winner. He wins the respect of his peers. He wins in his goal of shaking up the super conservative school. He wins in become a super hero, to him and his few, true, friends.

But no. Billy DOESN'T always win. Because that just not realistic. He endurs 10, good fabulous outfits (at least) ruined, or mocked, hundreds of threats, bulllying, threats he'll burn in Hell (brought on by the Bible Bells, the all christian, faithful students, who tourture Billy in there own religious ways) and much more loss. However, with him he has two friends. One who he happens to want to be much more than friends.

*Here Comes A Spoiler. So You Might Want To Stop Reading Here And Actually Go Read Freakshow*

Then comes the fateful kiss with Flip. I'm not going to ruin anymore than i have to, so I won't go on to say what happens next. I will tell you that i jumped up and screamed when this happened, then i ran around my house in excited circles for a few moments. But wait, we think. Flip isn't gay. He's super straight infamous football hero, known for his amazing last minute flip, in which he caught the ball and won the game. Why is he kissing Ultra-Gay, amazing Billy? *more spoiler that would've ruined my life if someone told me before i read the book.* Don't think: It's love that turns straight boys gay. Flip isn't gay. He abandons Billy there, and they hardly ever talk again through the book. This is where I cried. Hard. I felt myself being Billy. Right when I let my guard down and finally kiss Flip, he leaves. Until this point, Flip was my Hero. But now. Not so much. It just goes to show, good stories dont let any character fall into and archetype. Except maybe shapeshifter...