No Irish Need Apply — Edward C. Patterson

Kevin Borden has a secret, and that secret is about to shake the world around him - a tame and suburban world ruled by his widow mother, Sarah and peppered by his study-mate, Louis. Teenagers sometimes do the darndest things, but in Kevin and Louis' case, it's a stroke of wisdom wrapped in fool's gold. In a time not so long ago, in the days of JIM CROW and NO IRISH NEED APPLY signage, the world made it clear to those regarded as the fringe. "Stay away." To those who know no better - or perhaps know best, such lines are only meant to be crossed, or why else would they be drawn.

No Irish Need Apply takes a close to the bone view of the actual emergence from the closet - the pain, but also the importance. Dedicated to PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), this fast moving book was selected Book of the Month (June 2009) by Booz Allen Hamilton's Diversity reader group.