Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill

Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill by Lee Wind is a witty and wonderful (LGBTQ+) novel. I put the LGBTQ+ in parenthesis because this book is amazing for all aspects of the book, not just because it represents LGBTQ+ but also it is amazing because it does such a great job at representation as well. Wyatt is from Lincolnville, Indiana. As a ninth grader, he cannot wait until he is older and can be himself outside of his rural town.

It is only when the town librarian gives him a book that turns out to change his life. While doing a project on everyone's favorite president, Abraham Lincoln, he was given a book on Joshua Fry Speed the president's intimate friend. Wyatt quickly realizes the truth behind this book- America's Favorite President was gay (or at least Bi). This is not a popular opinion and despite all of the proof from the book and other artifacts, this fact started a whole bunch of turmoil in his home town.

This was the first audiobook I was able to preview using Netgalley. The audio was good, I wasn't the biggest fan of the actor, but the story was so great! After a little while I was able to ignore if the actor annoyed me or not.I have been looking for more LGBTQ+ realistic fiction for my library and I think this book would be a great addition to my school! http://kaitlynrcarpenter.weebly.com/blog/queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill-by-lee-wind

Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill :What If You Knew A Secret From History That Could Change The World?, this ab audiobook that is worth a listen, extremely well narrated. It keeps your attention , very easy to follow. The plot is original and has some really cool facts and info in.

This book was intriguingly complex. At the beginning I thought it would be another high school novel and while it dealt with a big problem it wouldn’t blow up or be realistic.
I was wrong, this book has an interwoven narrative that not only feels with the stresses of bullying and coming out, but also the stress expressing yourself and your views. Especially when they don’t fit with the carefully created narrative that is currently in place.
Homophobia isn’t something that has gone away. In fact in a lot of places it is still extremely rife. This book delves into this and explores what happens when people are faced with truths they don’t want to accept. When bullying people for being different or using horrible homophobic slurs is ok. But writing anything different or new is covered up as quickly as possible in case it messes with the historical narrative in place.
It was a very well thought out and provoking book and I think more people should read it as a way to check themselves.

Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill is a YA Contemporary Fiction with a M/M Romance. In it, you will meet Wyatt, a fifteen year old boy trying to live in a town were homophobia is very real and present. At the beginning of the book, he doesn't feel safe to be his true self. However, over time, he manage to find the courage to express himself and get out of the closet. First to his parents, then his best friend Mackenzie (who previously wanted to date him - and yes, it was very uncomfortable listening to her kissing him when he hated it) and then publicly. It was heartwarming to see him taking a chance on the people he was close to. I also loved seeing him with Martin.

Now, for the plot, it's about Abraham Lincoln and how Wyatt finds out Lincoln was in love with another man. And I'm not going to lie, at first I didn't really care about American history. Perhaps in part because I'm not American. But the author surprised me and made me interested in a subject that I didn't think would appeal to me all that much. It was even more interesting since it's actually real and evidence actually existed.

Before seeing this book available as an audiobook on Netgalley, I had never seen it on Goodreads and none of my friends had read it. I can't help but think the cover might-not have been the best choice - marketing wise- even though it's actually pretty relevant to the story. This book is two years old and yet, only 142 people has rated it so far. It's a bit sad because I really enjoyed this story and I wish more people knew about it, especially after hearing the author's interview at the end of the book. It added a lot of insight to the story in my opinion and I loved getting to know the author behind the words I just read.


(Thank you for letting me listen and review an ARC via Netgalley)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this audio book. I am providing a voluntary review. All thoughts and views are my own.

*** Audiobook Review! ***

Okay, I'm going to start with the narrator, because holy cowabunga, dude... this guy is amazeballs! I about lost it the first time he switched from narrator voice to the actual MC's voice when he was talking to the bestie over the phone. Like, he sounded so different and exactly how I envision a 15-year-old sounding. It made the story so immersive and delightful. This narrator was born to voice YA novels and I hope he dives deep into the genre and never looks back! 💕 Full 5-stars for the narrator!!

Now, as for the actual story itself. It was really cute! I enjoyed it. I was "reading" while working on a project that didn't require my total focus, so it made for an excellent and easy to follow background entertainment. I thought it was unique and kept my attention throughout. Wyatt wasn't one of those irritating YA characters that either acts far too young for his age or far too old. He felt realistically 15 but without being a hormonal pain in the booty.

I would recommend this to any and all lovers of YA because it's an enjoyable and fresh story. A bit of a stretch in some places, but fiction requires a suspension of disbelief and I think YA often requires a bit more. And I'm okay with that.

I loved this book. What a great melding of history and fiction. The quotes and letters that Wyatt uses as reference to why he believes Lincoln was in love with another man are true and can be found in many books about Lincolns life. I had never heard these rumors but when I actually went to the internet and found that there are quite a bit of writing on this I was stunned.

Set in a small town that is devoted to Lincoln, Wyatt is given the assignment of a book report on Lincoln. He is supposed to write this as a blog. When the librarian gives him a reference book of letters between Lincoln and another man, he finds himself and his feelings on the pages. Wyatt is gay but is scared to come out in such a small town so he thinks by outing Lincoln he will gage the temperature of the town. This backfires big and what his posts set off could send the whole town spiraling downward, not to mention taking his families "Lincoln slept here bed and breakfast" out of business.

This is great coming of age novel with a unique history lesson. It is about tolerance, and love, and ultimately about being authentic and courageous. Wyatt is all of those things even though he doesn't see it right away. The narration was great, I actually couldn't stop listening to it I was so pulled into the story.