Chapter Two, Adolescence—The Ghost of Fear Summary and Analysis

No one suspected that White was gay as an adolescent. He was tall, blond, gifted and was elected student-body president of Mission Hill Junior High. While he may have looked happy to everyone from the outside, on the inside he was miserable, feeling guilty and alienated due to his homosexual desires. He knows now that his desires aren't his fault and that there is nothing wrong with having them. And he also knows that he can't blame anyone in his community. He can't blame Noni; she didn't know any better. He can't blame his father, the self-made man's man who he always felt somewhat alienated from. And he can't blame his mother, a strong, but passive mother totally committed to Jesus. They all gave him a rich...