Anyone ever miss middle school? Yeah, me neither.
In Other Boys, we follow Damian, the new kid at school. Despite his vow not to talk at school so people will stop bullying him, he still finds himself a target of daily ridicule. With the death of his mother still fresh in his mind and the absence of a parent weighing heavy on him, Damian doesn’t have an easy life. But when Damian finds himself crushing on a boy, things begin to change. But what does it mean to like a boy when all they’ve ever done is make fun of you?
Other Boys was so incredibly immersive because, if your journey through tweendom was anything like Damian’s, chances are you’re going to experience flashbacks while reading this memoir.
Since he was little, Damian has preferred playing with dolls instead of G.I. Joes. He gravitated toward doll houses and Barbies unlike his fellow classmates who were into superhero movies and teasing girls. And because kids can be the absolute worst, they never missed a chance to make fun of Damian for his preferences. Fed up with the bullying, Damian resolves to not speak at his new school. If he doesn’t speak, no one will be able to make fun of him, or so he thinks. Damian’s idea to take himself out of the game so he can’t lose, so to speak, was so familiar to me. Alexander really puts all the hurt and anguish into this storyline and it translates perfectly in the graphic novel.
One thing that also really stuck with me was the way Alexander approached the topic of heteronormative family structures. I could relate to Damian so much because as a kid, you’re constantly reminded—in kindergarten, at school, on the playground—that most kids have two parental figures, and it’s hard coming from a household where this isn’t the case. Any mention of making gifts for your mother when mother’s day approaches or having to bring back signs to form can be so isolating when you don’t have that set of parents sitting at home, and Damian’s silent grief was absolutely harrowing. Family can mean so many different things but I loved that we got to see how it can impact you as a child when yours doesn’t look like everyone else’s.
There’s also something so timeless about Other Boys. Yes, it’s filled with hints to a certain time period, VHS tapes and funky colours, arcade décor and the bright colours, but the feelings are incredibly universal and seem to hold true to almost every kid’s experience. Watching Damian go back in time to first, second and fourth grade and seeing just how much everyone’s interactions change—for example girls thinking boys could be friends with them, too, to thinking they are gross only to then, a few years later, giggling and twirling their hair—threw me for a loop because I, like many others, lived through that. Sure, there were some deviations from this clear-cut trajectory of growing up, but most of it really aligns with my own memories and I think that’s what makes Other Boys such an immersive read. It’s incredibly relatable in that cringey kind of way that makes you want to hide because of second-hand embarrassment while also somehow making you feel nostalgic for that time period that was overwhelming, confusing and most of the time, not that great.
But somehow, Alexander makes that work in this graphic novel, so much so that it is unputdownable. There are so many themes explored—bullying, dealing with the absence of a parent, grief and antiquated gender roles that make life strenuous, finding who you are and your sexual identity. Whether you’re someone who naturally gravitates toward graphic novels or someone in need of feeling less alone, this one’s for you.
All in all, Other Boys is a compulsively readable graphic novel memoir, approaching tragedy and bullying through a vulnerable and ultimately hopeful protagonist who’s struggling to find his place in the world.
Other Boys is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 28th 2021.
Will you be picking up Other Boys? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
In Other Boys, debut author Damian Alexander delivers a moving middle grade graphic memoir about his struggles with bullying, the death of his mother, and coming out.
Damian is the new kid at school, and he has a foolproof plan to avoid the bullying that’s plagued him his whole childhood: he’s going to stop talking. Starting on the first day seventh grade, he won’t utter a word. If he keeps his mouth shut, the bullies will have nothing to tease him about—right?
But Damian’s vow of silence doesn’t work—his classmates can tell there’s something different about him. His family doesn’t look like the kind on TV: his mother is dead, his father is gone, and he’s being raised by his grandparents in a low-income household. And Damian does things that boys don’t usually do, like play with Barbies instead of GI Joe. Kids have teased him about this his whole life, especially other boys. But if boys can be so cruel, why does Damian have a crush on one?
