This was an incredibly sweet and touching story about two boys finding love in a food truck over one summer in Arizona.

Max is athletic, popular, and happily out to his parents and close friends. At the start of the novel something has happened, on a date with a college boy things got out of control and Max doesn't know how to process and goes with his instincts - which is to clam up and keep a smile on his face. Certain things don't happen to real men.

Jordan has been emotionally supporting his mom since his father's death four years earlier. He has 80s synth pop and his two best friends, his dreams and his writing and is comfortable, if not content, with that. His mother has never recovered and with their house in jeopardy Jordan has brought his father's food truck out of retirement. Jordan's mom hires Max to cook in the truck when she can't handle the pressure.

Having only known each other by sight from school, things start awkwardly with Jordan's reflexive shutting out of the outside world and lack of confidence puts the business in jeopardy, but soon the two begin to find things in common and enjoy working together. It doesn't take long for romance to kindle, but both of them have serious issues they need to be honest about.

Konigsberg's genius with this novel is that he doesn't offer easy solutions for the problems Jordan and Max face. Rape, mental illness, learning how to be with another person emotionally and physically, making positive change in your relationships with friends and family - compounded with issues of masculinity and race - these things are difficult. The novel follows Max and Jordan's navigation through this territory and the reader doesn't have to be a teen to learn a lot from it. This book is such a positive force. The characters deal with a lot and yet this novel is funny and charming and a joy to read.

This is a book I needed twenty years ago. Things have changed so much for the better in recent years and there is a lot of work that needs to be done, and new challenges of course, but I'm thrilled that there are books of this quality being written and finding audiences.

Not for me. I didn't enjoy the characters. I thought it was obnoxious how the author constantly complained about religion. I get that its supposed to be a coming of age story and about finding yourself, especially in the LGBTQ community. It just didn't do it for me. 

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He's won skiing prizes. He likes to write.

And, oh yeah, he's gay. He's been out since 8th grade, and he isn't teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys' boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret -- not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate breaking down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben... who doesn't even know that love is possible.

Out of the Pocket has been on my TBR for quite some time, so when I got a chance to get it from the library of course I checked it out. And...I don't know. *shrugs shoulders* It certainly wasn't bad or unenjoyable. I guess I was just expecting a little more.

Let's start with the positives first! So, Bobby is a very likable narrator. He's honest and realistic and just super nice. I also really like Bobby's friends Carrie and Austin- Carrie is super funny and Austin's a really supportive friend. I also like Bobby's parents, especially his dad. That was sweet.

Unfortunately, there were a few things I didn't particularly like. First of all, there is so much football talk. *groans* I skimmed those parts. I'm not a sports person, I've never been a sports person. I just didn't get it.

The romance...I'm not quite on board with it. Bryan is nice, sure, but I just feel like their relationship is missing a spark. Yeah, that's it, it's missing chemistry.

There's quite a lot of loose ends. I mean, I know life isn't so neat and tidy, and it's more realistic to leave some things unresolved. But just a little more closure would have been nice.

Tl;dr version- While certainly enjoyable, with likable characters and a good story, there were a few things that kept me from completely loving Out of the Pocket.

I've always wanted to read this book. I knew its contents were about LGBTQIA+ characters so I really wanted to read this book and support it. So when I saw it at the library, I grabbed it. I will not lie... this book is quite frustrating to get through. The talk of religion and its hypocrisy and the actions of some of the characters really got on my nerves. The main character, Carson, made a lot of comments towards his best friend, Aisha, that if she ever "decides" she wants to be straight, he's there for her. Now I understand it's mostly a joke said between friends, I do, but it doesn't change the fact it bothers me. Sexuality just doesn't work that way and the fact that Carson said it more than once really irritated me.

I did end up liking the end of the story which is why I didn't hate the book. The ending really saved it for me. I like how it all turned out and the message about all people having their flaws is a good lesson to be reminded of, however, I am not sure if it's worth reading through the entire book just to get that ending. The writing was nothing spectacular either.

I appreciate what Konigsberg is trying to do with this book. We, as a society, need more books about LGBTQIA+ characters. But I just think this one worked as well as it could have worked. I still enjoyed it for the most part but it definitely isn't one of my favorites.

If you're curious about it, give it a read. You may enjoy it a lot more than I did. Just keep in mind that there is a lot of religious hypocrisy talked about and the characters can be quite annoying sometimes, especially Carson.