Other Boys by Damian Alexander has received a starred review in Kirkus, which called the middle grade graphic memoir “an excellent, important debut.”
In Other Boys, debut author Damian Alexander details his struggles with bullying, the death of his mother, and coming out.
Damian is the new kid at school, and he has a foolproof plan to avoid the bullying that’s plagued him his whole childhood: he’s going to stop talking. Starting on the first day of seventh grade, he won’t utter a word. If he keeps his mouth shut, the bullies will have nothing to tease him about―right?
But Damian’s vow of silence doesn’t work―his classmates can tell there’s something different about him. His family doesn’t look like the kind on TV: his mother is dead, his father is gone, and he’s being raised by his grandparents in a low-income household. And Damian does things that boys aren’t supposed to, like play with Barbies instead of GI Joe. Kids have teased him about this his whole life, especially other boys. But if boys can be so cruel, why does Damian have a crush on one?
Damian Alexander is a cartoonist and storyteller who grew up in and around Boston. Damian’s illustrations and comic shorts can be found on The Trevor Project, Narratively, The Nib and others. He loves ghost stories, miniatures, and watching cartoons with his cats on sunny afternoons. He is represented by Elizabeth Bennett.
To read the review in full, please visit: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/damian-alexander/other-boys/