Toronto-based young adult writer Cheryl Rainfield’s recently released teen novel Parallel Visions is a simply written, slim book, but it’s hard-hitting nevertheless. Within the first few pages, for example, the issue of teen LGBTQ suicide comes up. The novel not only deals with homophobia, but also sexism, in two of its most explicit forms: sexual assault and intimate partner violence; in fact, it interrogates the intersection of hetero/sexism in its depiction of a secondary lesbian character (bonus points for her also being a woman of colour). Parallel Visions also deals with more commonplace concerns for teens, such as feeling like an outsider. Interestingly, Rainfield combines the gritty, realist setting and situations with a thriller storyline, and adds a supernatural twist...

Read the rest of my review here: http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/a-life-affirimg-earnest-book-for-young-adults-a-review-of-cheryl-rainfields-novel-parallel-visions/