The Blue Lawn

Australian humorist Taylor turns to serious subject matter in this emotionally charged story of love between two teenage boys. His accurate, nuanced writing shows rather than tells of the awkward advances and skittish retreats of 15-year-old David Mason as he struggles to understand his attraction to slightly older Theo Meyer. David feels like he is entering a foreign place when he visits the more outspoken Theo and his Polish grandmother (who insists David call her ""Gretel""), yet the way David feels when he is with Theo seems even more alien to him. Being a rugby star at school ceases to be important, and David quits the team. He spends his time with Theo helping to landscape his grandmother's yard. The relationship between the two boys is cut short before it can fully develop physically (Gretel sends Theo back to live with his mother). Although David is devastated, it is clear that he will survive and continue to grow into an individual as unique and remarkable as the ""blue lawn"" surrounding Gretel's home. The strength of the novel lies in Taylor's ability to explore David's and Theo's feelings for one another in honest, raw dialogue, but the author goes perhaps one step too far in detailing Gretel's torturous past in Europe during WWII. He proves to be more deft in expressing his adolescent characters' pangs of longing, fear and regret. Ages 13-up. (May)