Other Side of the Line

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Ms. Labbe for offering up your story.
At first, I was hesitant to read this book because I was not sure to like it. But in reading the glowing reviews from other readers, finally I decided to read it... fortunately, because it is a wonderful story, a book that I highly recommend.
This book is not just about a MM romance it is also and above all a hymn to friendship, a plea for tolerance and the understanding of the difference. “One thing Hal had learned was that they had to try to keep moving forward, keep trying to communicate and understand their differences. Pretending they didn’t exist wasn’t the answer.”
The author also proposes some very interesting backward on some great moments and events that have marked the history between 1963 and 1977.
From 1963 and for several years we will follow the story of Caleb and Hal. The author will discuss the multiple challenges that they will face, but that will also strengthen their friendship and their love.
1963: Desegregation has only just begun and Caleb made the painful experience in his school of Whites that the laws are written on paper but not yet fully accepted by most of the people. Hal is also an outsider as a Yankee who arrived from New York and came to live in North Carolina: there is always this antagonism between southerners and northerners in his classmates’ mind (and his teacher).
November 22, 1963: President Kennedy's assassination and the impact this tragic event had on much of the population because he was the one who had pushed to this desegregation.
The friendship between a Black and a White seems weird and just acceptable in the early 60’s. Racism is present on both of the sides... The children (then teenagers) will have to stand together but despite their friendship they’ll have a few misunderstandings and difficulties.
In the early 1970’s, young people will be faced with the ravages of the war in Viet Nam... to the misunderstanding that exists between the fighters and leagues anti-war... to PTSD which will lead some veterans to madness or to the suicide. The author also refers to the first Gay Pride parades, the hippie movement, the emergence of AIDS, etc. all these highlights of the 1970s...
And especially Hal and Caleb are going to have to face the misunderstanding and disgust from family and friends due to the fact that they are an interracial couple same sex...

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Ms. Labbe for offering up your story.
At first, I was hesitant to read this book because I was not sure to like it. But in reading the glowing reviews from other readers, finally I decided to read it... fortunately, because it is a wonderful story, a book that I highly recommend.
This book is not just about a MM romance it is also and above all a hymn to friendship, a plea for tolerance and the understanding of the difference. “One thing Hal had learned was that they had to try to keep moving forward, keep trying to communicate and understand their differences. Pretending they didn’t exist wasn’t the answer.”
The author also proposes some very interesting backward on some great moments and events that have marked the history between 1963 and 1977.
From 1963 and for several years we will follow the story of Caleb and Hal. The author will discuss the multiple challenges that they will face, but that will also strengthen their friendship and their love.
1963: Desegregation has only just begun and Caleb made the painful experience in his school of Whites that the laws are written on paper but not yet fully accepted by most of the people. Hal is also an outsider as a Yankee who arrived from New York and came to live in North Carolina: there is always this antagonism between southerners and northerners in his classmates’ mind (and his teacher).
November 22, 1963: President Kennedy's assassination and the impact this tragic event had on much of the population because he was the one who had pushed to this desegregation.
The friendship between a Black and a White seems weird and just acceptable in the early 60’s. Racism is present on both of the sides... The children (then teenagers) will have to stand together but despite their friendship they’ll have a few misunderstandings and difficulties.
In the early 1970’s, young people will be faced with the ravages of the war in Viet Nam... to the misunderstanding that exists between the fighters and leagues anti-war... to PTSD which will lead some veterans to madness or to the suicide. The author also refers to the first Gay Pride parades, the hippie movement, the emergence of AIDS, etc. all these highlights of the 1970s...
And especially Hal and Caleb are going to have to face the misunderstanding and disgust from family and friends due to the fact that they are an interracial couple same sex...