BETWEEN MOM AND JO

After his two mothers’ marriage ends in divorce, 14-year-old Nick recalls key moments from his rocky childhood. Age three: screaming in the emergency room, a chin gash bleeding down his shirt, while mother Jo goofs around trying to make him laugh. Kindergarten: being called “Dickless Nicholas” when older kids hear about his lesbian moms. Third grade: Jo sarcastically confronting a homophobic teacher while Mom and Nick, horrified, try to drag her away. Age 13: Jo and Mom splitting up, Jo leaving behind a crushed and desolate Nick. Bitterness spirals into despair—Nick lets his beloved fish die and cuts his knuckles with a knife—until Mom allows him to go live with Jo. The narrative voice doesn’t vary with Nick’s age. However, Nick’s need for Jo is palpable, despite—or because of—their gruff, unorthodox, rough-and-tumble love. An un-romanticized look at divorce and parent-child relationships, as well as an addition to the tiny canon about gay parents. (Fiction. YA)