While
a relationship between Aurin and Neila buds, Aurin’s relationships
with her best friends shift. Aurin’s friendship with Kenney
wanes due to her growing dislike of Kenney’s bossy and controlling
nature, and she becomes closer with Fred as they talk and share
secrets never divulged during their three years of camaraderie.
All the while, tensions are evident in Aurin’s household with
the constant fighting of her parents, Pru and Henry (and yes, they
are acknowledged by their first name).
In
this story, the reader finds a rare instance of an interracial
relationship in a Young Adult (YA) novel: Aurin
is white and Neila is black. Benduhn’s tale, however, generally
remains colour blind. Issues that surface surrounding interracial
dating are never expanded upon in the novel and the text is further
white-washed as the few mentions of race are with respect to the
adjectives used to describe Neila’s “coffee coloured”
and “rosewood” skin. Granted Neila doesn’t have
a voice in the story that isn’t mediated by the white narrator
Aurin, race is something that these characters never address.
The
closest Benduhn comes to delving into race is over a family dinner
when in an attempt to get to know Neila better Aurin’s mother
asks: “So, Neila, where are you from?” Aurin’s
brother Shawn quickly interjects with, “Ma, why do you always
gotta think some one’s not from here just because she’s
black?”
"Gravel
Queen" is a love story without lesbian identity or
labels. While her best friend Fred is gay, and knows he is gay without
desire or sexual attraction ever figuring into how he came to form
his identity, Aurin’s undefined sexual orientation is oddly
juxtaposed. Fred is explicitly and acceptably gay, and on the other
hand, Aurin is neither gay nor straight when the novel begins and
ends. Aurin never even questions her sexual orientation. As she
develops feelings for Neila, those too remain undefined. While the
reader interprets these feelings as being sexual, Aurin herself
doesn’t categorize her feelings as being platonic or of attraction.
It is only when Neila kisses Aurin and Aurin kisses her back that
Aurin develops a tiny sexual spark. Neila and Aurin are only lesbian
characters in as much as they participate in an act of same-sex
desire.
Falling
for Neila alongside Aurin is one of the strongest points of the
novel for the reader. Benduhn captures the early stage feelings
of falling in love without ever calling it love or like. The nerves,
the sweaty palms, the dropping stomach, all make you want to turn
the pages faster than your eyes can read the words.
It’s
nice to have a love story that does not label what is or
is not love, absent of a defined sexual orientation, but there is
no complication or depth to Benduhn’s story. The ambiguity
surrounding emotion, lust, sexual orientation, parents and race
arises only because they are part of the story’s development,
but these never become the focus of the story itself. By making
issues non-issues, the novel lacks a punch, and the characters remain
partially inflated.
"Gravel
Queen" is about what is on the surface and watching the action
happen. A novel whose strength resides in the emotions Benduhn’s
words invoke, it’s light, fluffy and enjoyable – and
that in itself is a unique contribution to YA fiction with lesbian
characters.
Amazon.com:
"Gravel Queen"
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