Tommy Stands Alone (Roosevelt High School Series)

$9.95

A touching story from the Roosevelt High School Series that focuses on GLBT issues.

by Gloria Velasquez

ISBN: 978-1-55885-147-4
Publication Date: 1995
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 136
Imprint: Piñata Books
Ages:
11 and up

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When Tommy realizes that he is uncomfortable with dating girls, he finds himself struggling with the idea that his sexual preferences might be different from everyone he knows. Tommy begins to cut classes and drink alcohol in order to avoid his friends and their increasing awareness that he may be gay. Distressed and confused, he attempts to take his own life, landing him in the hospital.  After the incident, Tommy gets help from the counselor, Ms. Martinez.  As his family and friends try to deal with the revelation that Tommy is homosexual, Ms. Martinez helps Tommy through the toughest time in his life. Tommy Stands Alone is a sensitive and balanced treatment of a difficult subject, compassionate, real, and moving.

“Velasquez has written an engaging story that will help teens, gay and straight, to better understand the consequences of homophobia.”—Booklist

“…As an engaging adolescent story about gays and Latinos, this novel will strike a chord…”—MultiCultural Review

“The author does a nice job of giving readers a window into the culture and providing some positive role models.”—Booklist on Maya’s Divided World

GLORIA L. VELÁSQUEZ is an award-winning writer of poetry and fiction. She is the author of two poetry collections, I Used to Be a Superwoman (1997) and Xicana on the Run (2006), and the Roosevelt High School Series: Tommy Stands Tall (2013), Rudy’s Memory Walk (2009), Tyrone’s Betrayal (2006), Teen Angel (2003), Ankiza (2000), Rina’s Family Secret (1998), Maya’s Divided World (1995), Tommy Stands Alone (1995), and Juanita Fights the School Board (1994), all from Piñata Books. Velásquez is currently a professor in the Modern Languages and Literatures Department at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California.

ATOS Interest Level: Upper Grades
Category: Young Adult
ATOS English: 5.1
Accelerated Reader Quiz #: 47862

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