When everything feels like the movies

Jude Rothesay comes in hard and fast with a unique voice I don't often encounter in my reading. It's also not what I was expecting. I'd grabbed it for my 15 year old daughter who was looking for a new read. The Governor-General's Award and spot on the Canada Reads shortlist was convincing enough. After she had finished it I picked it up to read about masturbating, blowjobs, huffing hairspray, stealing pharmaceuticals, abortions, stripper moms and a gay highschool kid who escapes into his own Hollywood fantasy world as a way to survive against the daily bullying and taunts.

It's not an easy read, Jude's not necessarily a likeable character but in the end it provokes discussion. That seems a cop out but it's my liberal knee jerk bias wresting with my conservative parental prejudices. That uncomfortable intersection is probably worth exploring. The fact that it was inspired by a true story turns complaints of a non-likeable character on it's head and forces you to examine your own prejudices.

FYI the daughter hasn't been scandalized and it prompted a discussion of a male middle-school classmate of hers who now identifies as a girl and what this student's experiences at school was like. Isn't that what books like this are supposed to do?