Gay Superhero: Need I say Mo(o)re?
Ξ September 12th, 2007 | → | ∇ General, Writers |
I finished reading Hero by Perry Moore yesterday. I immediately (well, as soon as I got home) handed it to George and said “You are required to read this book immediately.” His response was a snarky “Yes Sir.” but I feel pleasantly confident that he is obeying at this very moment. But why did I demand he read a book about a gay superheros young adulthood? Because it’s the best book I’ve read this year.
Seriously. And I’ve read some amazing books this year. Like Wicked, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and The House of Gaian (I plan on writing more about this one at another time.) Perry Moore is the wonderful man who was executive producer for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. He doesn’t appear to have written anything other than Hero and a companion book to Narnia. I can’t tell you how sad this makes me, but I have hope for the future.
So about the book. Thom Creed is the sun of a Hero who has been publicly shamed (you get the full details later in the book.) His mother left them years ago. Thom is an all-around good kid. You get the impression that he gets good grades. He’s the star of the basketball team, he volunteers in a literacy program, works several part-time jobs, you get the picture. Very subtly, Thom begins to develop a super-power, although it manifests sporadically and causes him to have seizures in very inopportune moments. Thoms father, Hal, aka Major Might, doesn’t approve of super-powers in general.
As if that wasn’t enough, Thom is gay, very aware that he’s gay, and lives in a community/world where being a fag is simply unacceptable. In an early scene that cuts to the bone, you see Thoms memory of his father explaining that gay people are what’s wrong with the world.
The story really begins when Thom accidentally helps the Dark Hero rescue some passengers from some super-villans who hijack the bus he is on. When the A-list Super-Hero’s show up and finish the rescue they invite Thom to try out for their exclusive super-hero league, of which his father will of course, never approve.
Full of humor, poignant commentary, the angst and sorrow of a closeted teen, and the drive to do the right thing that makes a Hero, this book speaks volumes to me. It reminds me of some of the challenges I’ve faced in my life, and some that I was lucky enough not to have to face.
