Unfortunately I couldn't finish this I had to try my best to carry on but then I gave up. The plot was okay and so was the writing it just didn't hold my interest.

Would you, or could you, do something that could get you sent to Africa for summer community service?

Isaiah helps a friend by taking the gun away, but then is found with it near school property. Because of this, he has to join his father in Cameroon. Isaiah hasn't seen or heard from his father in a long time and has some issues with it. When arriving in Africa, he is not met by his father, but one of the others at the mission, Henry. Just a short shot way from the mission camp, they are picked up by rogue soldiers. Will they make it out of the camp alive? Can they trust each other and their felling?

I think I would put this in YA Action/Adventure before I put it in YA romance. While there may be overtones of love/lust in the book, the main portion of it is the action/adventure for Isaiah and Henry. This is still an amazing book! I did not want to put it down!

Reviews shared on Goodreads, Amazon, B & N and my blog, V's Reads. http://wp.me/p3AKEA-29n

4.5 Stars.

Isaiah Martin is a high school senior at a private school in Wisconsin when he tries to help a friend in dire need. His best friend is having severe home troubles, and Isaiah finds her near school with a gun in her lap--Isaiah tries to remove it and gets arrested for possession. His mother, a high powered attorney, gets his arrest expunged for probation as long as Isaiah spends the summer volunteering with his missionary physician father in Cameroon, Africa.

Isaiah isn't thrilled with the idea, mostly because he hasn't even heard from his father in the nine years since he and his mother moved back to the States. And, he's really not happy when his dad can't even make it to the airport to pick him up. Instead, Isaiah is collected by Henry, and young and attractive man who's been working at the mission for a couple years. Isaiah is sullen and petulant, and the ride to the mission is two days long and arduous--including a stopover for fresh medical supplies.

There is some level of bonding as these two spend a day and night together, but it gets serious when Isaiah, a diabetic, struggles with his insulin pump--and Henry gets bitten by a venomous snake. Oh, and when the armed guerillas take them captive in an effort to locate components of a chemical weapon? Yeah, that really kicks this adventure into high gear.

DO GOODER was an engaging YA adventure, with openly gay characters caught in a high stakes plot. It felt very well-researched, and had elements of suspense that far surpassed the critical zone. Isaiah is literally slowly dying from DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) over the course of their imprisonment. Trusted friends are slaughtered, and it seems like only one--if either--of these boys will make it out alive. The anguish Isaiah feels because of his father's political ties is extreme, and Henry's self-sacrificing activity is more than a little harrowing. I really enjoyed how close these kids bonded, though the book is sexually-innocent, and ached for both of them when "rescue" comes to pass. It was a little hard to follow the timeline, because Isaiah is the narrator, and he's overcome by disorientation that accompanies DKA. That said, the confusion gave an authentic feel to the point-of-view and kept the tension high. I received a review copy via NetGalley.