Oddly Normal: One Family's Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms with His Sexuality
Publisher
Gotham Books
Publication Year
2012
ISBN
9781592407286
Pages
290 pages
Genre
memoir
Format
full length
Item Type
Nonfiction
Annotation
A heartfelt memoir by the father of a gay teen, and an eye-opening guide for families who hope to bring up well-adjusted gay adults. Three years ago, John Schwartz, a national correspondent at The New York Times, got the call that every parent hopes never to receive: his thirteen-year-old son, Joe, was in the hospital following a suicide attempt. Mustering the courage to come out to his classmates, Joe's disclosure--delivered in a tirade about homophobic attitudes--was greeted with unease and confusion by his fellow students. Hours later, he took an overdose of pills. In the aftermath, John and his wife, Jeanne, determined to help Joe feel more comfortable in his own skin, launched a search for services and groups that could help Joe understand that he wasn't alone. This book is Schwartz's very personal attempt to address his family's struggles within a culture that is changing fast, but not fast enough to help gay kids like Joe.
Grade Level
9-12; Adult
Diversity Topics
LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Disability and Health; Gay/Lesbian; Developmental disability; Learning disability; Mental illness; gay; gay child; gay teenager; pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS); difficulty learning; depression; suicidal thoughts and tendencies
Main Character
adult male
Race/Ethnicities
White
Family Formation
mother and father
LGBTQ+
gay male
Keywords
father and son; individualized education plan (IEP); teachers; psychologists; journalist; gay-straight alliance; theatre; public school
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Schwartz, John, "Oddly Normal: One Family's Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms with His Sexuality" (2012). Diverse Families. 1631.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1631