Desire Lines is a very complex story and it is definitely one that sticks with you, one you want to talk about after you read it. It also proves once again, that Jack Gantos is one of the best writers out there.
Walker is a young man living in Fort Lauderlade, FL, he seems to be kind of a loner, an average student, a sad kind of guy. But maybe part of that sadness is because he is telling the story after all of the events in the book have happened. It would be hard to happy after living through all of this. He spends his free time hanging out in an abandoned golf course, where nature has taken back the formerly groomed grounds. As part of punishment for cheating on a biology test, he has to take care of the animals that are used for biology at his school and at neighboring schools. Sometimes he rescues those animals, the frogs, the pigs. Trying to do what he thinks is right.
One day a traveling preacher and his two sons, one Walker's age, show up on the lot next to the high school. The Walker-age son, is determined to out the homosexuals at the high school and rid the school of the sin of homosexuality. He targets Walker right away, accusing him of being gay and telling him that if he just tells him who the real gay kids are, he will leave him alone.
Walker knows of two gay girls in his school, he has seen them together, on Thursday evenings, by the pond in the old golf course.
Walker fights with himself, should he tell Preacher boy about the girls and get himself out of the line of fire.
I am a Christian and I don't think that homosexuality is a sin. I figure that if Jesus never mentioned it once, that pretty much says it all...His not saying anything, you know? God is far more concerned THAT we love, than WHOM we love. So I just spend my time trying to love God's creation and I don't think about who is loving who. I would love to say "some of my best friends are gay!" But actually, I don't have any gay friends. Well, friends who I know to be gay, anyway. I do have one guy friend who is gay, but we aren't close-close, not because he's gay, but just because he's a lot younger than I am and we don't hang out or anything.
SPOILERS.
The thing about Walker is, he does end up outing the girls and he realizes that it was the wrong thing to do, and it ends in serious, serious tragedy so basically, Walker has really screwed up his life and others lives. But all of the blame can't be placed on Walker, I think, even though he is more than willing to take it all on. This book is so incredibly sad. I like the book because the one gay girl is a total jerk. I mean, Gantos didn't paint all the gay characters to be angelic and wonderful and awesome and hip and perfect and saints. Gay people can be jerks. Straight people can be jerks. Gay people can be great. Straight people can be great. And this one gay girl is a major jerk. Its just a real story.
The title is based on the idea of the desire path. And when you think of it literally and figuratively, it adds a lot of meaning to the whole story.
Really good book.
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