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I've spent years carefully not reading this book, despite it's huge enduring popularity among middle school boys. I was right. I hated it. It's well written, mind. It's just an incredibly creepy and insidious piece of propaganda. The older gay man with the tattoos in the class put his finger on what was wrong: It's teaching boys that they should suppress their feelings and suck it up. It's the myth of manhood as closed off emotionally and completely independent of support. It is incredibly toxic. This is one of the most read books by boys in this country, I might add.