Stories of the Boy with the Yellow Socks

With sensitivity and a teenager’s ability to find humor even in disaster, Jan Blixen tells of his life growing up gay in the Midwest. Fast-paced and intricately woven, Jan’s stories are a concentration of emotional power, often heartwarming and heartbreaking in the span of a few minutes. So vividly does Jan portray the people in his world, they seem to be full of life and breath.

An escaped mental patient living in a refrigerator box gives Jan a priceless gift. A university professor accused of a terrible crime is Jan’s best friend. Jan’s father, a drunk and a brawler, loathes his gay son as God’s practical joke. And as the listener continues, Jan keeps introducing new characters: a pastor who believes an exorcism will save Jan’s soul, a shotgun-toting delicatessen owner who suffers a wound that will never heal, a thoroughbred racehorse that kicks and runs his way into Jan’s heart.

A book of compelling social significance, Stories of the Boy with the Yellow Socks is the story of a boy unafraid to be himself, a boy who defeats cruelty and bigotry with the gift he so willingly shares—his gift of gentleness.

About the author: Since a boy of 15, all J. Carter Swift has ever wanted to be is a writer.