Book Review of Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada

Cover of Skater Boy, featuring a boy with red hair and a black jacket holding a blue skateboard

About the Book

Title: Skater Boy

Author:

Anthony Nerada

Published: 2024

Genres:

Boy-Boy Romance
Contemporary

Swoonworthy Scale: 6

Voices:

Cover Story: He Was A Punk
BFF Charm: Eventually
Talky Talk: Rockin’
Bonus Factors: Awesome Parents, Complicated Friendships
Anti-Bonus Factor: Awful Parents
Relationship Status: I’m With The Skater Boy

Cover Story: He Was A Punk

This cover nails it. Wes looks exactly as described: red hair, hazel eyes, leather jacket, skateboard, even the boyish trying-to-be tough look on his face. The decals around him all have something to do with the story: a camera for his interest in photography, a skull for his heavy metal fandom, ballet slippers for Tristan, stars for his friend Tony the amateur astronomer, and a queasy-looking emoji for their occasional substance abuse. I would have liked to see Tristan illustrated too, but it works like this.

The Deal:

Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie is a punk. Tristan Monroe does ballet. No one who knows them would expect them to have anything in common, but they’re both: a) gay, b) struggling with how others perceive them and anxious about the future, and c) falling for each other. Wes admires Tristan for his dedication to dancing and his out-and-proud lifestyle, while Tristan is intrigued by the vulnerability behind Wes’ tough façade. But with Wes being deeply in the closet for fear of his homophobic friends, not to mention years of unresolved family issues (see “Awful Parents” below), will their differences bring them together or tear them apart?

BFF Charm: Eventually

Wes starts out as a bully, there’s no denying it. I almost stopped reading on the first page when he threatened a classmate. It’s a measure of the quality of Anthony Nerada’s writing that he can make you not only understand why this character does these things, but watch him take accountability for his actions and make real efforts to change, even if he doesn’t always succeed.

Swoonworthy Scale: 6

Wes and Tristan’s relationship has a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes they bring out the best in each other, such as when Tristan sets up lighting equipment so that Wes can photograph him dancing, both inspiring each other’s art. Sometimes they bring out the worst, such as every time Wes tries to hide their relationship, or when Tristan tries to make Wes dress more respectably and Wes storms out on him. They both have a lot of growing up to do (Wes especially), but I was happy with the way the story ended.

Talky Talk: Rockin’

The chapter titles, like the book title itself, all refer to song lyrics. I’m not a fan, but “Smells Like Stonebridge Spirit” (Stonebridge is Wes’ high school) was familiar as a Nirvana paraphrase even to me. Wes refers often to his favorite band, Metallica, and his and his mother’s shared favorite TV show, The Golden Girls – which ties neatly into one of the main themes of this book: People aren’t clichés, and having eclectic taste makes life interesting.

Bonus Factor: Awesome Parents

Parents from Easy A smiling and looking into a laptop during a video chat

Wes and his Ma have been allies ever since she rescued them both from an abusive husband and father ten years ago. She does everything an overwhelmed single parent can to keep him – and his friends – in school and out of trouble, and he gives her the paychecks from his part-time job to keep the household running. He’s understandably slow to trust her boyfriend, Tad, but the older man’s steadfast loyalty and cheesy sense of humor are slowly growing on Wes despite himself.

Bonus Factor: Complicated Friendships

Could you be friends with homophobic bullies? For a lot of us, the answer would be an automatic no. But what if you’d been part of this group since you were kids, worked the same job, had matching tattoos, spent the holidays together and were each other’s only escape from your problems since you were kids? What would be more frightening – staying in the closet, cutting off your friends altogether, or taking the risk of losing them anyway with the messy work of trying to unravel a lifetime’s bad habits? Wes’ relationship with “The Tripod”, his two best friends, is one of the most painfully real parts of the novel.

Anti-Bonus Factor: Awful Parents

Wes has chronic pain from an old injury he doesn’t like to talk about, a short temper, and a severe distrust of male authority figures. It’s not difficult to guess why. Also, his friend Bud (short for Budweiser) has a father with a drinking problem, and appears to be heading the same way.

Relationship Status: I’m With The Skater Boy

I picked up this book mostly for the Avril Lavigne reference, expecting a fun rom-com – and it is, but there’s also more to it. To paraphrase the song again, I see the soul that is inside.