The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The title “Ziggy, Stardust and Me” is written at the bottom of the cover, in the centre, in large, lower case white writing that looks like paint. The author’s name “James Brandon” is written above this in small red capitals. The background is a dark purple. On the left, blue toned art of a young man with long dark hair. On the left, red toned art of a young man with short light hair and the red and blue David Bowie lightning bolt painted on his cheek. They are both facing each other. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Alcoholism
• Homophobia
• Racism
• Sexual Assault
• Attempted Rape
• Bullying
• Death of A Parent
• Conversion Therapy

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Summary:

The year is 1973. The Watergate hearings are in full swing. The Vietnam War is still raging. And homosexuality is still officially considered a mental illness. In the midst of these trying times is sixteen-year-old Jonathan Collins, a bullied, anxious, asthmatic kid, who aside from an alcoholic father and his sympathetic neighbor and friend Starla, is completely alone. To cope, Jonathan escapes to the safe haven of his imagination, where his hero David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and dead relatives, including his mother, guide him through the rough terrain of his life. In his alternate reality, Jonathan can be anything: a superhero, an astronaut, Ziggy Stardust, himself, or completely “normal” and not a boy who likes other boys. When he completes his treatments, he will be normal—at least he hopes. But before that can happen, Web stumbles into his life. Web is everything Jonathan wishes he could be: fearless, fearsome and, most importantly, not ashamed of being gay.

Jonathan doesn’t want to like brooding Web, who has secrets all his own. Jonathan wants nothing more than to be “fixed” once and for all. But he’s drawn to Web anyway. Web is the first person in the real world to see Jonathan completely and think he’s perfect. Web is a kind of escape Jonathan has never known. For the first time in his life, he may finally feel free enough to love and accept himself as he is.

A poignant coming-of-age tale, Ziggy, Stardust and Me heralds the arrival of a stunning and important new voice in YA.

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Notes:

There is an audiobook.

There is an ebook. There is a kindle edition.

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Archivist Comments:

I’ve just realised my spreadsheet is broken and I’m devastated. This is the last book on the original list that I collected.

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