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Boy Toy by Barry Lyga
This book still hit me like a train even though I knew what was coming. It’s hard not to be exposed to the news stories about teachers that are arrested for sexually molesting a student. You don’t necessarily hear about how it happened-or might not really want to know anyway. What Barry Lyga does in Boy Toy, is delve deep into Joshua, who was molested by his history teacher, Miss Sherman. What Lyga does so well is let the reader see how the circumstances of not only being alone with Miss Sherman led to some of the events, but how his family dynamics also played a role in allowing the relationship to continue. While it might be easy and comforting to point fingers at who was at fault and how was this able to happen, Lyga doesn’t make those choices terribly easy for us in a black and white kind of way, especially when Joshua carries the idea with him the he seduced her, “Hug me! I want to scream to her. Come hold me, goddamn it! It’s the only time I ever felt safe. The only time I ever felt loved, and even though it destroyed you, I want it again-I need it again now more than I need anything else in the world.” Subplots, including Rachel, who is attracted to Joshua, and wants to move him beyond what is past, his best friend Zik, who is there for him no matter what, Josh’s strained family relationship, and his therapist Dr. Kennedy, are all affected but help in their own way for Josh to find who he really is.
