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Brave Face by Shaun David Hutchinson
Shaun David Hutchinson discusses coming of age in the early 1990s when a lack of positive queer representation forced his own sexuality to become a thing of negativity that left him depressed and angry. He shares passages from his own diary at the time where he reveals the self-harm and abuse he suffered, and the constant messages from a society who told him to "repent" or he would never find love. He goes on to explain how he eventually found happiness and acceptance in the gay community.
Review from School Library Journal:
In Hutchinson's raw and moving memoir, readers are transported to his life at age 19. Depressed and gay—related, though not interdependent parts of his life—the author considered suicide but ultimately chose to live. This is the story of both the large and small experiences that led him to that point and what he used to help him move forward. This story about fitting in and standing out isn't afraid to show Hutchinson's imperfections and doesn't cast a dishonest optimism about how everything will eventually get better. Instead, a crucial takeaway in this memoir is that being okay is just that: being okay.
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