Finlater
Publisher
Quote Editions
Publication Year
2008
ISBN
9781604023954
Pages
292 pages
Genre
historical
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
In this Lambda Literary Award-winning debut, the course of growing up in just-this-side-of-segregation 1970s Cincinnati, Ohio, seems predictable if uninspiring for Cliffy Douglas. That is, until the deadbeat father of this gifted 13-year-old black kid from the Finlater Gardens Projects appears out of nowhere. The real fun and trouble begin when Noah, a Jewish boy he meets in junior high school, takes him on a joyride to first lust and love.
Grade Level
6-8; 9-12
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Racial Diversity; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Incarceration; Interracial; Gay/Lesbian; father in prison; interracial friendship; interracial relationship; gay; gay teenager
Main Character
male teenager
Race/Ethnicities
Black / White
Family Formation
mother and father
LGBTQ+
gay male
Awards
Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction Nominee (2009)
Lambda Literary Award for Gay Debut Fiction (2008)
Keywords
urban; poverty; spelling bee; class differences; Judaism; anti-semitism
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Ruff, Shawn Stewart, "Finlater" (2008). Diverse Families. 1473.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1473