Atheneum, 2005 $15.95

I was just about to say “I don’t know why I’m reviewing a kids’ book,” but that would be a lie. Being the father of two young teenagers, I’ve read plenty of kids’ lit over the years. Lately, now that they’re 13 and 15 and don’t need to be read to anymore, I find myself picking up these books and reading them on my own. And enjoying them.

Totally Joe is one of those books that, if you see it on the shelf in the bookstore, you’ll stop and look. At least at the cover. A pair of lime green High Tops with pink eyelets sure can grab your attention. They’re being worn, one would assume, by Joe Bunch, the 13-year-old whom the book is about. Well, not exactly about. You see, the whole book is Joe’s alphabiography as it was written by him for an English class project. Each chapter relates to a letter in the alphabet, has to be about Joe, and end with some sort of life lesson.

None of this sounds too out-of-the-ordinary does it? I guess I forgot to mention that Joe—or JoDan, as he likes to refer to himself for a time—is gay. Which probably means this book never would have been written when I was in the seventh grade.

Howe handles the subject (kids growing up) much as any young readers’ author does. There are topical references, crushes, good guys and bad guys. Intolerances are revealed and lessons are learned. Howe hasn’t gone out of his way to make this a “gay” book. It’s just an enjoyable story about a gay kid, which every 13-year-old should read. And maybe their parents, too. —jim corbran