Nothing Pink

By Mark Hardy

Book Overview

Boyds Mills Press publishes a wide range of high-quality fiction and nonfiction picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932425241
• ISBN13: 9781932425246
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Front Street
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.8"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Nothing Pink by Mark Hardy

Nothing Pink is almost a fairy tale (no pun intended), not since it's unrealistic, but since it preserves all the innocence of young age, and like in a fairy tale, there is a prince who comes to rescue the love of his life. Vincent is the 15 years old son of a Baptist minister and he is g ay. Vincent has never kissed a boy, he has never ever met another g ay boy, or man, but he knows deep inside that he is g ay; he knows since he was a little child, since his favourite shirt was a pink one, and when the realization struck on him, that he was g ay, he swore out pink from his life. For all his life he has behaved like the good son of the preacher, he goes to all the function, he does the chores at home, he is the perfect good boy and he avoids everything that is "g ay". But the g ayness is inside him, and he seems to not be able to get rid of it, no matter how many prayers he says. And then the g ayness arrives even in the safe shelter of his father's church, when he moves with the family on a new town and he meets Robert, one of the new parishioners, 16 years old and g ay. It's like the meeting of two souls, or maybe it's only that they are alone among all the others, it seems natural to stay together. Love for them is riding together on the same horse, having a picnic alone on the top of an hill overlooking the horizon, or walking together side by side. There is time for what it will come, for now is enough for Vincent to know that he is not alone. It's not simple for Vincent and he knows it. He knows that it will arrive the time when he will have to leave his parents' house since they love him, and he knows that, but they will never accept his homos exuality. Even in a fairy tale like this one, where he is able to meet his prince charming, the happy ending of his parents' acceptance is not possible. Nevertheless, the story is innocent and fresh, maybe since it's about teenager, or maybe it's since the time is the beginning of the '80, when the AIDS plague was not part of the trouble a young g ay boy will have to fear. Maybe Vincent is too clever for his age, maybe he has lost the chance to be a careless teenager, but at least I think he will be able to find his path in the world, far from his family, that, I highlight again, it's not cruel or unwelcoming, it's simple not the family in whose embrace he can live forever. But Vincent has learned the more important lesson, to love himself so that everyone, even God, will love him, and I think that, despite all, he learned it from his family.

Quietly Provocative

Hardy, Mark. "Nothing Pink", Front Street, 2009. Quietly Provocative Amos Lassen Vincent Harris is 15 years old and he knows that he is gay and is fairly sure that his parents also know. The problem is serious though as his father is a Baptist minister and to him homosexuality is totally wrong and a sin that can damn one to hell. Vincent has fought with himself about this but now that his family has moved to a new town, he meets Robert Ingle at church and Vincent is faced with a difficult decision--act on how he feels or keep fighting. The two boys grow closer and closer together and Vincent's mother is not happy about it. Vincent is forced to face a moment of truth and not only about his relationship with Robert but also about his relationships with his parents and with God. He wonders if Godwill accept him as he is or change him. When Vincent's parents find a magazine hidden in his room they begin to pray that God will deliver him from his sin of homosexuality and Vincent begins to wonder how his parents can continue to love him now that they know he is gay. He has always felt gay and that it is as much a part of him as his religion is and if he could have the way he wants, he will be both gay and religious. However, everything is reeling out of control. When Vincent begins his romance with Robert, he begins to hear that God has been trying to tell him that He loves him the way He created him. I am sure many fundamental Christians will have something to say about that. The book teems with love. Hardy captures beautifully the hesitation and the passion of Vincent and first love with honesty. The characters are wonderfully drawn and the book is a look at parents who have good intentions and collide with the real world and with a reality that they cannot accept. Their prayers and interventions are what make Vincent accept himself for who he is. He realizes that God has not forsaken him and the church's interpretation is not necessarily divine. The exploration of the relationships between sexuality, family and religion are handled wonderfully and the book is a touching and sensitive look at how homosexuality affects everyone involved and in particular the person who is facing homosexuality directly.

Gay YA lit at its best: a gay epiphany

THINK PINK is the story of Vincent, a teen who has grown up in a loving but conservative, evangelical family. In fact his father is the newly appointed minister of one of the local churches in the small rural town to which he and his family have just moved. 15-year-old Vincent has known for years that he was gay and seems - in this beautiful "interior monologue" of a novel - to intuit that his mother and father, on some level, likely realize that as well. Yet the issue is never talked about. Because of his strong religious background, Vincent obsesses over his innate sexual feelings and constantly prays for God to take away his "gayness." Then he meets Robert, a slightly older member of the new church. There is an almost immediate mutual attraction between the two boys. At first, Vincent fights that attraction and discourages Robert's efforts at friendship. But, teen attractions being what they are, Vincent soon finds himself on a horseback ride through the woods with Robert during which the younger boy experiences a great epiphany regarding himself and his relationship with God. For years Vincent prayed for God to make him straight and felt sorely and constantly disappointed that God did not answer his prayers. But while having the picnic with Robert at an old, abandoned fire tower, Vincent suddenly realizes that God had been answering his prayers all along by NOT making him straight and by His loving Vincent just the way he is - just the way God made him. And because Vincent refused to hear that answer for so many years, God had to make His response to Vincent even more apparent by sending the gentle and patient Robert to him. (In fact, at their first meeting, the older boy actually goes out of his way to seek Vincent out as if Robert had been watching and waiting for him all along). This realization gave young Vincent the spiritual power he needed to face his parents when they find a gay magazine hidden in his bedroom, a "discovery" which forces the three of them to finally have the heart-to-heart conversation they had avoided for years. In such a confrontation, many writers would have made stereotypical caricatures out of the extremely religious parents but Mark Hardy refuses to take cheap shots and instead makes them very real and empathetic in their own way. I was impressed. A brief and seemingly simple story of love, NOTHING PINK is both a thoughtful examination of gayness versus religion as well as a sweet, appealing teen romance. The boys are physically in touch with each other and yet - while the story is totally real and believable in terms of 21st century Young Adults - there is no overt eroticism here. Too, there are definitely no language issues to snatch this outstanding book from the hands of younger teens who most need to read it. Wow! If there had only been books like this when I was a kid. Still, I'm thankful they now provide a means by which I'm able to reflect upon my own teenage years as well as learn some new and won

A beautiful reconciliation of faith and self-acceptance

This is the story of Vincent, a preacher's son who has known since his childhood that he is gay and that being gay, according to the Bible and his father's sermons, is a sin. He has prayed and offered up his sin to God over and over with no relief, and has come to realize that his homosexuality is as innate to him as his desire to reach out for God. It isn't until he meets Robert Ingle and begins a sweetly innocent romance with him that he begins to hear what God has been trying to tell him: that He loves him the way He created him. There are so many things to love about this book. The story moves quickly but doesn't feel rushed. The author has captured the hesitation and passion of adolescent first love with simple honesty and not a hint of condescension. All the characters are treated like real people; the worried parents are not painted as monsters, and it's clear they love their son. They don't abuse him or throw him out of the house when his orientation becomes undeniable, and though their reaction is emotionally painful for Vincent, it is also an honest representation of the love of well-intentioned parents colliding with a reality they're terrified to accept. Their "intervention" is the catalyst for Vincent to begin truly accepting himself as he is and for him to realize that God has never forsaken him, no matter what his church's interpretation of the Bible says. It's easy for coming-of-age gay fiction to become depressing and dark, because reality for gay teens can so often be that way. This book offers a welcome light in the dark with an ending that is warm and uplifting and will offer support for a reader who is struggling with his or her own faith and sexuality.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

NOTHING PINK, by Mark Hardy, is Vincent's story. It is about a preacher's son dealing with his demons - particularly those pertaining to his homosexuality; because in his church, homosexuality is viewed as a sin. Vincent meets a boy, Robert Ingle, at church one day. Through horseback riding, birthday picnics, and Barry Manilow, they grow closer and closer, much to Vincent's mother's dismay. Robert and Vincent's relationship is only part of the story. Vincent's relationship with God becomes increasingly more important as the story progresses; he is forced to wonder whether God will accept him, or change him. When Vincent's secret is revealed to his family by a magazine found in his room, hidden away beneath his mattress, his parents pray for God to deliver him from his sins. Although his parents claim to love him unconditionally, Vincent wonders how they can, when they hate homosexuality. Since he was a little boy, Vincent has felt that his gayness is as much a part of him as his religion. If Vincent were to have his way, everything would remain exactly how it is then. But, unfortunately, this seems out of his control; ever since a defining moment early in his childhood, there has been "nothing pink" in his life. NOTHING PINK is a beautifully written story about a boy's acceptance of himself, and a higher power's acceptance of a boy. Reviewed by: Margaret Waterman