Night Kites by M E Kerr – a gay book review

I found Night Kites in the teenage fiction section of a local mobile library.  It was the very pleasant cover design that caught my eye and then the blurb which mentions AIDS.

the story is about the relations of a teenage boy (Ricky) with his peers.  He is a typical American youth, interested in girls and having a good time, his older brother is ‘Gay’ and has AIDS.  This character and the parents – who react badly to the annunciation of the illness – are cliched.

Night Kites will not revolutionise the public’s view of Gay people, AIDS or sex.  Indeed, it reinforces some of the stigmas, however, the fact that a work of fiction on this subject is in a mobile library, on the teenage readers’ shelves is a sign of hope in itself.

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