Book Review & Interview: Surrender Your Sons
by Sassafras Lowrey
A lot has changed in the lives of LGBTQ+ youth over the past several decades, and even though we have seen tremendous advances, there remains discrimination and mistreatment. LGBTQ+ youth are significantly more likely to experience homelessness than cis/straight peers, and “conversion therapy” remains common. “Conversion therapy” is a harmful practice that attempts to change the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of LGBTQ+ people. According to the Williams Institute, 698,000 LGBTQ+ adults in the United States have experienced conversion therapy and 16,000 LGBTQ+ youth will experience conversation therapy before they reach the age of 18 in the 32 states where conversion therapy is not banned.
Adam Sass’ powerful new novel “Surrender Your Sons” centers the damaging practice of conversion therapy through the story of Conor, a gay teenager in Illinois. After his boyfriend convinces him coming out to his mother will be safe, Connor’s mom’s reaction is anything but accepting. First she takes his phone — cutting him off from contact with his boyfriend — and then she has him kidnapped from his bed in the middle of the night. Connor, along with other teens, are transported to a conversion therapy camp in Costa Rica.
As far-fetched as this might sound to some readers, conversion therapy and “therapeutic” boarding schools and bootcamps are both in the United States and abroad (where they are often even less regulated) are a common practice for controlling teens. Once at the “camp,” Conor quickly begins to piece together what has happened in collaboration with other teens who have been sent away from their own families. The teens start to formulate a plan to save themselves after the adults in their lives have betrayed and failed them. This is a fast-paced book with a compelling protagonist that isn’t an easy read, but is a story we don’t often see represented, especially in YA literature.
I recently had the opportunity to connect with Adam about the novel, his writing practice, and his advice for Matthew’s Place readers who want to pursue writing:
Sassafras: What did you hope LGBTQ readers will take away from your novel?
Adam: SURRENDER YOUR SONS depicts cruel people putting innocent people through unimaginable horrors. This was vital to telling the story of conversion therapy. However, the light in the dark is that I wanted to always give my queer teen characters dignity and agency, and sometimes, let them achieve big victories. My favorite parts of SURRENDER YOUR SONS are the bonds between my campers. Writing them, letting them have laughs and sweet moments and kick-ass scenes where they worked together gave me all the joy I needed to survive writing the dark scenes. I would like LGBTQ+ readers to take away from SURRENDER YOUR SONS that love, humor, friendship, and hope can never be killed, not even when everyone and everything seems to be against you.
Sassafras: What was your inspiration for this novel?
Adam: SURRENDER YOUR SONS began with my love of thrilling, emotional adventure stories like LOST. I loved the idea of a group of queer kids stranded in a similar desperate, isolated situation, who rebel against their tormentors by relying on each other, despite their differences and difficulties. These campers are a cross-section of the LGBTQ+ community, which is so vast and diverse, and I wanted SURRENDER YOUR SONS to explore how queer people wither in isolation and have to come together to look after each other. Also, when I first started writing this story, Showtime released a documentary called “Kidnapped for Christ” about a real-life conversion therapy camp in the Dominican Republic. It was so harrowing, and these two ideas — the adventure escape story and the conversion camp story — collided. I wanted catharsis. I wanted these kids to fight back and take the entire place down.
Sassafras: How do you structure your writing life?
Adam: What helps me is the tried-and-true method of taking things day-by-day. I break up writing, my day job, and downtime into achievable action items, then keep a really detailed calendar to keep it all straight so I don’t HAVE to hold everything in my head. I just look down at the paper and know that for this day, in this hour, this is the only thing I have to focus on. Of course, life is unpredictable and some things take longer, so I try to take an organic point of view to my calendar and adjust on the fly. This way won’t work for everyone, but for me, a mixture of planning and flexibility helps me stay on the right path.
Sassafras: What would you say to aspiring LGBTQ+ writers?
Adam: Don’t be afraid to bring “ugliness” to queer stories. We aren’t perfect cookie-cutter Teddy bears, and we don’t have to be portrayed that way to have value as human beings and as fascinating characters. SURRENDER YOUR SONS shows the best, worst, and everything in between of what queer people are capable of doing to each other. Write us as villains, write as untrustworthy characters — reclaim old clichés, it’s okay! Just write it from a place of authenticity, of understanding that this is this queer person’s story, not all queer people’s stories. There’s no singular queer experience, nor should there be a singular queer story.
About the Author:
Sassafras Lowrey’s novels and nonfiction books have been honored by organizations ranging from the American Library Association to the Lambda Literary Foundation and the Dog Writers Association of America. Sassafras’ work has appeared in The New York Times, Wired and numerous other newspapers and magazines. Sassafras has taught queer writing courses and workshops at LitReactor, the NYC Center For Fiction and at colleges, conferences, and LGBTQ youth centers across the country. www.SassafrasLowrey.com
