Lessons in Teenage Biology: a novella

A lot can happen in two days for a teenager. For Tom Mollicelli, passing out in gym class, his sister saving him from a bully, getting drunk at a party, going camping with his straight crush, and almost ditching a speech tournament, all leads up to his first kiss from a guy. Set in a small Ohio town at the peak of the 1970s, Lessons in Teenage Biology shares a searingly honest depiction of a gay youth struggling to just get through another day or two.

Lambda Literary Award-winning novelist Jim Provenzano brings a swift wit to his latest story, which is actually his first. Hand-typed on a manual typewriter in 1986, the author of seven subsequent novels and other works recently rediscovered his early novella in a box of documents, then scanned and converted the pages. While expanding the story, he retained its sense of urgent eccentricity. Fitting for the Young Adult genre, Tom's wild two days, a somewhat autobiographical coming of age tale, will also spark a nostalgic light for readers who remember teen life in the 1970s.