Magic and Misery »

Peter Marino is an English professor and playwright whose plays have been produced in festivals around the country. His first novel, Dough Boy, received wide critical acclaim. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called it, "a winning debut, at once humorous and heartrending." He lives in New York State.Visit him online at sunyacc.edu/~marinop/Author.htm.

Presenting a raw, bitingly humorous portrait of high school life that will resonate with today's teens, this novel shows how magic and misery weave through one special friendship.

Seventeen-year-old Toni Jo adores her gay best friend, Pan. He is a golden boy - gorgeous, witty, and sophisticated, so different from the redneck troglodyte teenage boys in her blue-collar town. Pan and Toni Jo are inseparable until Caspar, the thoughtful football player in their English class, enters the picture. Toni Jo has longed for a real boyfriend, but she's used to thinking of herself as a hopeless case, the girl who never gets what she wants. Naturally, she's surprised and thrilled when Caspar asks her out. But as their romance unfolds, it jeopardizes her friendship with Pan, which becomes strained and unpredictable. Toni Jo has to wonder if it's she or Pan who has changed. Tension between them escalates as the bullying of Pan leads to violence and Toni Jo is unable to help.

VOYA

The new boy in TJ's class is drop-dead gorgeous, with just a hint of vulnerability, and TJ is instantly attracted to him. No, he is not a vampire. More unattainably, Pan is gay. So instead of lover, Pan becomes TJ's best friend and confidante. In blue-collar Mungers Mills, Pan is isolated by social class as well as sexual preference, and after he publicly comes out in class, he is immediately targeted for harassment by several loutish football players. Pan ignores their hazing, but as TJ begins to date Casper, an intelligent and likeable football star, he is clearly threatened. Pan and TJ must rework their close ties to include Casper. On their second date, TJ and Casper have protected sex. Frequent, safe, "pleasant gymnastics" before the main event, usually movies in Casper's basement - stereotypic guy sex - becomes a staple ingredient, although by no means the critical one, of their relationship. In fact, Casper is only passionate when explaining why he loves to play football. Casper's father dies of cancer; Pan finally retaliates against the two football players and is suspended. His family leaves Mungers Mills and moves to Boston. TJ grieves but is sustained by her relationship with Casper. Marino has a talent for amusing dialogue and creates likeable characters in TJ, Pan, and Casper. Secondary characters are more one-dimensional. Students looking for a pleasant romance will find it here, but not much real magic or misery. Reviewer: Rayna Patton