Alan Cole Is Not a Coward

June 15, 2017
Alan Cole starts out as a coward but doesn't end as one in this harrowing but inspiring debut. White seventh-grader Alan's home life has taught him that it's best to stay out of the way. He conceals his crush on Connor Garcia. He doesn't want friends but eats lunch at the Unstable Table with Madison Truman, who's bullied about his weight, and Zack Kimble, who cheerfully lives by his own rules. He tries to avoid abuse from his father and violence from his brother Nathan. His mother is a largely passive figure, though she does shed some (unsatisfying) light on the source of their familial trauma. Nathan, who is both sympathetic and frightening as a victim and perpetrator of abuse, wants to crush his brother once and for all in an ongoing contest Nathan calls Cole vs. Cole. As the brothers struggle through their list of tasks for this particularly trying game of CvC--from getting kissed to standing up to their father--Alan realizes his own potential for strength, the value of friendship, and the warped reasoning behind his father's rage. Alan's burgeoning gay identity is only a small part of his larger angst, and his slow but steady growth from cowed endurance to self-assured advocacy makes for a rewarding, if at times difficult, read. The intensity of the family relationships is so effectively rendered that this book has the potential to appeal to older teens as well as a middle school audience. The potential horrors of white, middle-class, suburban public school are well-documented and creatively managed here, though readers could easily come away either contented or depressed. (Fiction. 11-16)

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June 1, 2017

Gr 4-6-All Alan Cole has ever wanted is to blend in. He takes care not to let his cafeteria tablemates, Zack and Madison, become his friends. Alan stays quiet at the dinner table so as not to upset his irascible father, and tries to avoid his brother, Nathan, who relentlessly bullies him. One day Nathan forces Alan to play a round of Cole vs. Cole, in which each brother must attempt to accomplish as many of Nathan's proposed seven assignments as possible within a week. The tasks are tough and include learning how to swim, retrieving a slip of paper from inside a broken vending machine, and receiving a first kiss. If Alan loses, Nathan will reveal his biggest secret to the whole school: Alan is gay and has a crush on one of his male classmates. With its well-developed characters, juxtaposition of supportive adult educators and aggressive parents, and message of hope, this novel feels like a contemporary version of Gary D. Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now. Many of the book's most memorable scenes involve its lovable supporting characters, including Zack, a sweet kid who brings new meaning to the phrase free spirit, and Madison, who is named after three U.S. presidents and feels that his name comes with a responsibility to speak as eloquently as possible at all times. VERDICT A strong debut; recommend to tweens who enjoy realistic fiction, particularly readers looking for stories about LGBTQ kids.-Shira Pilarski, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Washington, DC

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2018
Alan conceals many things about himself from many people, especially the fact that he is gay. His bullying older brother Nathan threatens to out Alan unless he competes with Nathan in a rigged set of tasks. The Labors of Hercules for the middle-school set (complete with underwear jokes), this debut novel is also a compelling examination of homophobic families and generational patterns of abuse.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2017
With his popular older brother Nathan bullying every single friend Alan has ever had, life in middle school feels bleak, twisted, and mixed up. Alan also has to hide his enthusiasm for his art projects, the only thing that makes school bearable, from his bullying brother. The fact that his own father believes art is a waste of time doesn't help. In fact, Alan believes he needs to conceal many things about himself from a lot of different people, especially the fact that he is gay. When Nathan threatens to reveal this fact to Alan's crush unless Alan competes with him in a rigged set of tasks he has no chance of winning, Alan is forced to find allies. This book is the Labors of Hercules for the middle-school set, complete with underwear jokes. Alan's biggest challenge, however, isn't completing one of Nathan's odious tasks; it is understanding the generational pattern of abuse in his own family. Although the book's tone seesaws too often between wacky and serious, debut author Bell has written a compelling story that examines homophobic fathers and families and still manages to show Alan a way to see himself as a valuable member of a community--as an artist, even a brave artist. ed spicer

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)