Interview: Author & Illustrator Mike Curato on his new gay-themed graphic novel 'Flamer'

The Randy Report - LGBTQ Politics & Entertainment

Today I’m speaking with award-winning author and artist Mike Curato, who recently released his debut YA graphic novel, FLAMER, a coming-of-age story that confronts ideas of homophobia, bullying, body image and coming to terms with identity in every sense of the word. Curato's YA graphic novel follows 14-year-old Aiden Navarro who navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), as he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance. Unfolding over the course of the last week of Boy Scout camp in 1995, Aiden's story is heavily inspired by Mike's own experience as a Boy Scout (and eventual Eagle Scout) and his coming out as a teenager. The Hollywood Reporter called FLAMER “the kind of book that might change its reader’s lives.” FLAMER is available on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/36UME0B And at Bookshop.org here: https://bookshop.org/books/flamer/9781627796415