In many ways, the story of John Schwartz and his son is not normal. This is not a story of parents who have a hard time accepting that their son is gay - they know it almost before he does, and they are incredible advocates for him as he figures it all out.

Joe is not just a kid discovering his sexuality, he's a kid with learning disabilities and other challenges in school that hamper his ability to feel safe and comfortable, made worse by labeling and poor teachers.

Schwartz does some extensive reporting on how or why those two things might be related, and he does a good job of trying to be dispassionate about the connections. It seems pretty logical to understand why suicide rates might be higher for gay teens, for example.

The other remarkable part of the story, in this day and age, is the way that the Schwartz family advocates for their son. They fight hard to avoid schools putting disorder labels on him (ADHD, Autism, Asperger's), avoid medicating him too much and avoid thinking the school needs to solve everything.

It's a book about balanced parenting as much as it's about raising a gay son.