ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
OLDER FICTION
Konigsberg, Bill

Destination Unknown

304 pp. | Scholastic | September, 2022 | Trade ISBN 978-1-338-61805-1 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-338-61806-8 $11.99
(2) YA A Manhattan teen comes out as gay, starts to date, and explores his sexual awakening in the 1980s during the AIDS crisis. Narrator Micah, a high school junior, meets CJ, eighteen, at a nightclub, and the attraction is instant. They bond over music, and CJ supports Micah as he comes out to his family. Konigsberg traces CJ and Micah's close friendship and on-again, off-again romantic relationship through tumultuous HIV/AIDS protests, volunteer work, and a terrifying diagnosis. The novel exuberantly explores NYC counterculture and the music of the period, with scenes involving several iconic gay bars and organizations, including ACT UP, which Micah and CJ join. It also starkly confronts readers with the experience of watching the people of one's community get sick and die painfully of the AIDS virus; Micah's intense fear of sex due to the risk of infection inhibits his relationships. However, the story ends on a hopeful note, and Micah and CJ's love for and loyalty to each other never fail. An author's note explains Konigsberg's connections to the era.
Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

RELATED 

OLDER FICTION

What Beauty There Is
by Anderson, Cory
OLDER FICTION

Between Perfect and Real
by Stoeve, Ray
OLDER FICTION

Zoe Rosenthal Is Not Lawful Good
by Werlin, Nancy
OLDER FICTION

Home Is Not a Country
by Elhillo, Safia
OLDER FICTION

All Our Hidden Gifts
by O'Donoghue, Caroline
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?