Why
Can't Relationships Be Like Pizza?
The
Pizza Chronicles Book 3
by
Andy V. Roamer
Genre:
YA LGBTQ Contemporary
THE
PIZZA CHRONICLES is a YA series that follows the main character, RV,
through his high school years at demanding Boston Latin School, as he
tries to answer his many questions about life, God, prayer,
sexuality, being the son of immigrants, and staying loyal to his
heritage while carving out his own life and tentative tries at
relationships.
www.thepizzachronicles.com
As
RV enters sophomore year, his friendships and relationships create
more questions than answers. RV still cares for Bobby, but Bobby
seems a different, more distant person. RV’s best friend Carole is
distracted by the ups and downs in her relationships with her French
boyfriends, while RV’s new friend Mark is more focused on his
family’s troubles. School is a mixed bag. RV enjoys the Spanish
club he has joined, which is run by his beautiful Spanish teacher,
Señorita Sanchez. But he struggles with other subjects and annoying
teachers and always has to watch out for the school bullies who seem
to know how to stay under the detention radar.
As
always, RV’s former teacher and mentor, Mr. Aniso, is there for
advice, especially when near-tragedy strikes and RV needs Mr. Aniso’s
counsel to stay strong and provide help where it’s needed most.
Why
Can't Freshman Summer Be Like Pizza?
The
Pizza Chronicles Book 2
RV,
having successfully completed his freshman year at the demanding
Boston Latin School, is hoping for a great summer. He's now fifteen
years old and looking forward to sharing many languid summer days
with his friend Bobby, who's told him he has gay feelings too. But
life and family and duties for a son of immigrant parents makes it
difficult to steal time away with Bobby.
Bobby,
too, has pressures. He spends part of the summer away at football
camp, and his father pushes him to work a summer job at a friend's
accounting firm. Bobby takes the job grudgingly, wanting to spend any
extra time practicing the necessary skills to make Latin's varsity
football team.
On
top of everything, RV's best friend Carole goes away for the summer,
jumping at an opportunity to spend it with her father in Paris.
Luckily, there is always Mr. Aniso, RV's Latin teacher, to talk to
whenever RV is lonely. He's also there for RV when he inadvertently
spills one of Bobby's secrets, and Bobby is so angry RV is afraid he
is ready to cut off the friendship.
Why
Can't Life Be Like Pizza?
The
Pizza Chronicles Book 1
RV
is a good kid, starting his freshman year at the demanding Boston
Latin School. Though his genes didn’t give him a lot of good
things, they did give him a decent brain. So he’s doing his best to
keep up in high school, despite all the additional pressures he’s
facing: His immigrant parents, who don’t want him to forget his
roots and insist on other rules. Some tough kids at school who bully
teachers as well as students. His puny muscles. His mean gym teacher.
The Guy Upstairs who doesn’t answer his prayers. And the most
confusing fact of all—that he might be gay. Luckily, RV develops a
friendship with Mr. Aniso, his Latin teacher, who is gay and always
there to talk to. RV thinks his problems are solved when he starts
going out with Carole. But things only get more complicated when RV
develops a crush on Bobby, the football player in his class. And to
RV’s surprise, Bobby admits he may have gay feelings, too.
Andy
V. Roamer grew up in the Boston area and moved to New York City after
college. He worked in trade book publishing for many years, starting
out in the children’s and YA books divisions and then working in
adult Editorial and Production of various houses. To relax, Andy
loves to ride his bike, read, watch foreign and independent movies,
and travel.
The
first two books of The Pizza Chronicles (Why Can’t Life Be Like
Pizza? and Why Can’t Freshman Summer Be Like Pizza? )
were published in 2020. His adult novel, Confessions of a Gay
Curmudgeon was published in 2019 under the pen name Andy V.
Ambrose.
GUEST POST
What’s
My Heritage?
There is a lot of talk about heritage
in THE PIZZA CHRONICLES. RV, the main character, keeps getting
pressure to honor his heritage. He’s even told that the Dalai Lama
made a speech saying if you neglect your traditions, you are
neglecting part of yourself.
“What is my heritage?” RV
keeps asking himself. It’s not the traditions of his immigrant
parents. He understands why they still cherish them, but they’re
not fully his. While he feels a certain responsibility toward the
life his parents have given him and the sacrifices they’ve made,
he’s trying to make his own life in the U.S. and create his own
heritage. But often he has no clue what that heritage will be.
I think a lot of first-generation
Americans feel this conflict. I know I did. Growing up, I was fully
immersed in the Old World Lithuanian traditions of my parents:
church, holidays, festivals, foods, a special Lithuanian school on
Saturdays, no talking English at home. These traditions, this
heritage, gave me comfort and grounded me. And they were wrapped up
in the love from and for my family.
And yet there was something else very
important going on, too. A need to fit into the American society I
was growing up in. I was so immersed in my heritage, I didn’t
learn English until my mother took me to my first kindergarten class
when I was five years old. I still remember that day and I remember
her talking to the teacher. Later she told me she informed the
teacher to go easy on me because I didn’t know any English. Talk
about being thrown into the pool and learning how to sink or swim!
Luckily, a five-year-old’s brain
picks up language pretty easily, I’m told. Mine certainly did. I
don’t remember any particular hardship making drawings and
listening to instructions, except for one day a year later in first
grade. The teacher asked us to name certain objects. When my turn
came, she pointed to herself. “Ladybug,” I answered, having
heard that word somewhere and associating it with women. The teacher
made me stand up. “You mean I’m a bug?” I remember her asking.
I still remember the blush of embarrassment as I stood there in
class, upset at myself that I somehow mildly insulted her and didn’t
get the word right. Luckily those moments were rare. My brain adapts
to languages well. And for that I have always been grateful.
As I think about it, there were many
other occasions as I was growing up when I wrestled with that concept
of heritage, even if I didn’t consciously know I was doing it. I
just knew I wanted to fit into American society. And yet breaking
away from those old traditions and finding my own path was sometimes
difficult, if not impossible. When you’re a teenager, of course,
those conflicts become even more intense. And that’s why I’m
writing this series, I think. Reliving the various issues RV is
wrestling with, I am reliving some of my own and seeing them more
clearly. And that makes me better appreciate both my heritage and the
life I have carved out for myself.
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