Pink by Lili Wilkson

Like Many before me the first introduction to gay and lesbian characters in YA Lit was in Holly Black’s Tithe. I remember being in thrilled by Corny and found his and Naphemel’s relationship to be reviting and so interesting. I have always been an open minded person and from then on started to read as many GLBT books and I could, partly for my own mixed thoughts about myself. When Vicky asked me to do this Review for the opening of the GayYa.org I choose PINK by Lili Wilkinson
Here is the Good Reads:
Ava has a secret. She is tired of her ultracool attitude, ultra-radical politics, and ultrablack clothing. She's ready to try something new—she's even ready to be someone new. Someone who fits in, someone with a gorgeous boyfriend, someone who wears pink.
Transferring to Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence is the perfect chance to try on a new identity. But just in case things don't work out, Ava is hiding her new interests from her parents, and especially from her old girlfriend.
Secrets have a way of being hard to keep, though, and Ava finds that changing herself is more complicated than changing her wardrobe. Even getting involved in the school musical raises issues she never imagined. As she faces surprising choices and unforeseen consequences, Ava wonders if she will ever figure out who she really wants to be.
Humor, heart, and the joys of drama—on- and offstage—combine in Ava's delight-fully colorful journey of self-discovery.
The story of Ava is a story that I think any teen should read whether they are gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender. Ava is a lesbian and unlike most parents, hers threw her a Coming Out Party and adore her girl friend Chloe. In the beginning I was wondering why Ava wanted to change so much, why she wanted to conform to “normal”. She goes to a new school, and gets new friends, even tries to date a boy, Ethan. The goal of Ava the entire book is to become what she thinks is normal, and normal girls wear pink and like boys, right? That’s what is going through Ava’s mind. When Ava decided she needed a boyfriend, Ethan, I could not understand why. Ethan had nothing going for him other than the fact that he was a hot boy. Now Sam, Sam I really liked he was funny and cynical. The whole Screws were amazing, Sam, Kobe, Jules, Jacob, and Jen. By the end of the book I hated Chloe; she became the biggest bully of the story and showed the change that happened in Ava. I said above that this was a story for everyone and it is. Pink shows that no matter what you need to be true to yourself and don’t allow anyone else to tell you what NORMAL is.