Shyam Selvadurai’s brilliant novels, Funny Boy and Cinnamon Gardens, have garnered him international acclaim. Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed. The pair told The Huffington Post that women seem to have more room. The video, by lesbian couple Bria and Chrissy, also seeks to comment on the lack of space men have to be sexually fluid in society. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy. Four straight men French kissed four gay men on camera to experiment with their sexuality and challenge societal notions of masculinity. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith’s ordered life is storm-tossed. Amrith’s holiday plans seem unpromising: he wants to appear in his school’s production of Othello and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky’s tropical fish business. He tries not to think of his life “before,” when his doting mother was still alive. Fourteen-year-old Amrith is caught up in the life of the cheerful, well-to-do household in which he is being raised by his vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky. The setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons. Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai In a voice tinged with humor and sadness, Ellen Wittlinger explores Grady’s struggles-struggles any teen will be able to relate to.
But as the victim of some cruel jokes, Grady also finds unexpected allies, including the school geek Sebastian, and Kita Charles, who’s a gorgeous senior. On top of that, there are more practical concerns–for instance, which locker room is he supposed to use for gym class? Grady didn’t expect his family and friends to be happy about his decision, but he also didn’t expect kids at school to be downright nasty about it. Grady’s parents act hurt his sister is mortified and his best friend, Eve, won’t acknowledge his existence. Although Grady is happy about his decision to finally be true to himself, everybody else is having trouble processing the news. Angela Katz-McNair has never felt quite right as a girl, but it’s a shock to everyone when she cuts her hair short, buys some men’s clothes, and announces she’d like to be called by a new name, Grady.