THE GOD BOX by Alex Sanchez

[u-dog]

At Kyo's suggestion I ordered the novel, "The God Box" by Alex Sanchez from Amazon. Thank you SO MUCH for recommending it Kyo. I liked it a lot. Has anyone else read any of Sanchez's books? I would be interested to hear what others think of them as a resource for GLBT youth.

The novel is a "young adult fiction" book. The main character is a gay Christian boy (a senior in H.S) The action in the story is his journey to self acceptance and his struggle to accept himself while remaining rooted in his Christian faith. The catalyst for his growth is the arrival at his school of "Manuel", a handsome, confident, and "out" Christian at his West Texas High School. It is a (very chaste) love story I thought the characters were believable and that they grew in a realistic (if somewhat "telescoped") way over the course of the story. Sanchez does a nice job of inserting gay affirming interpretations of the classic "clobber" passages into the dialogue. The biblical interpretation is sound but doesn't distract from the flow of the story.

I would be interested to hear who else has read any of his books. Kyo, I would be interested to hear what it is about Sanchez's book that you especially like. Can I ask where you got his books? do they have them in your school library? Did you buy them?

[Gregory_de_Bois]

I put the book on hold at my library, when you posted this. I got the book yesterday after school (hid it under my research books for school), and then read it that day. I LOVED it. I mean, it wasn't necessarily the greatest writing ever, but it was just beautiful. Plus I could see myself in both characters, Manuel and Paul/Pablo. I am so glad I read it. I suggested it to some of my friends (who already know).

[animejunkie]

I bought it off Amazon, grabbed the package, and ran upstairs and hid it under my bed. Of course my mom found that pile, luckily I lied and she believed the lie that I was hiding my friend's books from his parents. Not the first time I lied, I do it everyday anyone, pretending to have a girlfriend, and all, I live a double life.
What I loved about this book is it truly resonated with my own spiritual journey, I felt I could understand the narrator's strugglings, and all. The story also was chaste and never resorted to any smut, the relation felt realistic and not at all sappy. I shed many many tears. Sadly the book and many of my other gay books are now at my friend's house.
Yeah.... my mom is.... I just hate her!

[keltic63]

I ordered the book today, but told Amazon to ship it with my copy of the "For the Bible Tells Me So" dvd.....in February. Hopefully, I'll have some money to pay for it then too. ahhhh, Christmas.

[animejunkie]

Don't beat yourself up over the untruths, KYO. You are doing what you need to do to stay safe. Self preservation is a reasonable compromise at your age and place in life. In a few short years, you will emerge into the light of truth when the time is right. When that day comes you can express to your mom how angry you are and have been and perhaps she will come to see what she did to you and will apologize. But even if she doesn't... Don't hate her. Be as ANGRY AS YOU ARE... but don't hate her. Because hate hurts the hater way more than it hurts the hated. It's like a cancer that eats your soul. Don't go there

I won't, thanks you for that warning. Its just so easy to hate, but its not right!