DESIRE LINES

This bitter, open-ended tale of a Florida teenager who "outs" a lesbian couple, then watches as one kills the other before turning the gun on herself, offers an astonishing change of pace for the author of Jack's New Power (1995). A long-abandoned, overgrown golf course is Walker's refuge, a private place where he spends every free moment: There, he liberates animals from the school's lab and watches classmates Karen and Jennifer—in his words—"screwing around." None of his business, he figures—until a teenage preacher appears outside school grounds to start a gay witch-hunt, and expertly enlists Walker as his informant. The preacher's relentless innuendo, blared through a bullhorn, puts Walker into a panic about his own reputation; he takes up with three punks-in-training, and blurts out Karen and Jennifer's secret to them. Soon everyone knows, and a few days later, the tragedy plays out. Although Gantos is vague about what gays do once their clothes are off, he is explicit when demonstrating how a climate of fear and suspicion can be concocted in a community, and how insecure young people—gay, straight—can be tormented by it. There are no admirable characters, acts, or role models here, and Walker's sense of failure haunts his narrative; Karen, only injured, shows up at the end to tumble Walker's weak defense—leaving him alone with his regret, and readers to wonder how they would react in similar circumstances. No answers here, just harsh questions. (Fiction. 12+)