Composer and middle-school teacher Jay Coles (Tyler Johnson Was Here) returns with his sublime sophomore novel, Things We Couldn't Say. Written for, but not limited to, high school students or those who identify as Black, male and queer, Coles tells the story of 17-year-old Giovanni, who struggles with understanding the many meanings of love.
Gio has lived with a hole in his heart for almost half of his life. The hole was made eight years ago when his birth mother abandoned Gio, his younger brother, Theo, and their father. Still, Gio has managed the hole even though he lives in a particularly rough part of West Haven, Ind.; his father is an alcoholic preacher; and Gio--a star basketball player--is hiding his bisexuality from everyone except his immediate family and his two best friends. But just when Gio feels like he's beginning to get a grip on his life, that hole threatens to rip his heart in two: he receives an e-mail from his ghost of a mother.
Coles's beautifully written bildungsroman encompasses topics such as identity, grief, love, alcoholism, socioeconomics, depression, sexuality, family, race and racial injustices. It allows queer Black boys to see themselves as they aren't always portrayed. As readers are invited into Gio's life, they watch him maneuver his age, race, sexuality in all their realms and learn how important it is for young adults to find an understanding of the self as well as a definition of what family and love really means. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer