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Amos Lassen wrote on 04/06/2011:

“Thinking Straight” is a sensitive and insightful
book. Reardon takes on dogma and fundamentalism and shows the power of love as he writes about being Christian and gay in today’s world. Taylor Adams, a teenager, is the main character here and his parents do not quite understand him. They send him to a program named “Straight to G-d”, an organization that claims it help the youth of today deal better with reality and especially deals with those have a homosexual leaning but teaching them not to overcome it. Taylor knows he is gay and accepts himself. He also believes that G-d has no problem with his being gay. He fights to be true to himself and love his boyfriend, William. But at “Straight to G-d” he is not allowed to have any such thoughts and everything that he is does is closely monitored There is no privacy and in fact, no one there is who or what he/she seems to be
If Taylor had not come out to his parents, he would not have to endure the attempts at deprogramming but since he has been placed at the hands of fundamentalists, he must pretend to conform until he can find a way to break lose. He knows Bible and he knows what is true for him. He discovers that the staff at “Straight to G-d” uses piety as a cover for cruelty and is not” real” people. Even with this, Taylor manages to learn about much including compassion, courage and betrayal but even more than all else, he learns who he really is.
The book will take you back to the days of adolescence and high school and you will probably remember what it was like the first time you fell in love. You also remember—or learn—what a fragile thing love is. This is not just a coming-of-age story, it is a book of self-discovery and tenderness, And “A Secret Edge” has several sub-themes; relationships, the family, Hindu philosophy and the issue of violence.
Teens, gay and straight, need a book like this as do clergy of all faiths. It says a great deal and does so beautifully.