Rainbow High--"Sweet Valley Rainbow High"

Title: Rainbow High   (Not to be confused with the Evita song that I've been singing all day)

Author: Alex Sanchez


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Jason, Kyle, and Nelson are back in this sequel to Rainbow Boys.  Jason is still struggling to accept his sexuality and is also working to earn a basketball scholarship.  Kyle is in love with Jason and unsure if he wants to leave him to go to Princeton.  Nelson is scared he is HIV-positive and trying to win the love of Jeremy, an HIV-positive boy.

What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Sanchez creates some wonderful, multi-dimensional, believable characters. A review that likens this trilogy to Sweet Valley High explains exactly what I think.  I devoured SVH books as a kid and loved them, even when they veered off into stereotype-world. Rainbow High is a fun and important story in spite of my issues with it.

I liked the comparison between the two coaches and how they treated Jason and Kyle's coming out, respectively.  Jason's coach was 100% supportive, and the basketball team followed suit.  Kyle's coach tried to remain neutral, and the bullying against Kyle became rampant.  It is important for me, as a teacher, to be reminded that teachers must take a hard stand against bullying immediately or it'll escalate.

Let's talk about Jason--he comes out to the world in an unrealistic cheesy 80s movie way.  The consequences of coming out, were, unfortunately, pretty realistic, although I hope the ACLU would fight it today.  Jason also seems to want to erase the part of him that's still attracted to girls, which makes me uncomfortable because bisexuality erasure is a thing--but this is part of Jason's confusion, so I probably shouldn't feel uncomfortable, but I'm sensitive about bi-erasure.

Also, realistically speaking, the boys shouldn't have been able to go to prom together so openly, not with the issues they've had in their community. This article is from the year Rainbow High was published, and it would be more similar to how their prom would go, even at Sweet Valley Rainbow High.


My overall takeaway: I love these characters. The plot is a bit on the cheesy side, but what SVH book isn't?


My favorite quotes: 

• "Oh puke, Nelson thought. Why couldn't Jason just go away to some remote sports camp for indecisive bisexual jocks and never return?" (paperback edition, pg. 42).
    
• "The future seems so vast and uncertain, whereas the present--his friendship with Nelson and his love for Jason--were so immediate, so essential.  Couldn't his parents see that?" (pg. 119).
    
• "'That goes for all of you,' Coach bellowed.  'I don't care if you're gay, or blue, or what you are, you're a team.  I expect you to act like one.  Any differences between you, put them aside.  Anyone who can't, is off the team.  Understood?'" (pg. 130).
    
• "Dear Tech a-holes, You can keep your stupid scholarship . . . " (pg. 234).

Other reviews: Publisher's Weekly and The Book Report Network


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