In these memoirs, coming out is less important than coming of age and realizing that young gay people experience the world in ways quite unlike straight boys. Whether it is a fascination with soap opera, an intense sensitivity to their own difference, or an obsession with a certain part of the male anatomy, gay kids � or kids who eventually identify themselves as gay � have an indefinable but unmistakable gay sensibility. Sometimes the result is funny, sometimes it is harrowing, and often it is deeply moving.

Essays by lauded young writers like Alex Chee (Edinburgh), Aaron Hamburger (Faith for Beginners), K. M. Soehnlein (The World of Normal Boys), Trebor Healy (Through It Came Bright Colors), Tom Dolby (The Trouble Boy), David Bahr, and Austin Bunn, are collected along with those by brilliant newcomers such as Michael McAllister, Jason Tougaw, Viet Dinh, and the wildly popular blogger Joe.My.God.