Nico is not the typical gay boy in children's fiction

One of the things that is so exciting about Nico being a gay teenage character in fiction for the pre-teen age group is that he is not a typical gay boy, no-one could have predicted with certainty that he would be gay. None of his peers in the books suspect his secret. This is in contrast to the very few other books written for this age group that includes gay boys. The gay boys in books like the Misfits and Stitches (see tab above - LGBT literature for children) have themes about bullying of boys who are different and "girlie". Nico is different, of course, he is a loner and a son of one of the big three Gods. But, he is certainly not feminine, no-one would call him a sissy and I can't imagine him the victim of bullying. He is one of the most powerful demigods and you would want him on your side in any fight. I have known many gay teenagers and talked with adult gay men about their teenage lives. Strangely enough one of my best friends was very much like the boy in Stitches - as a teenager he liked sewing dolls clothes, too. So there is certainly a place for stories about queer boys who identified and picked on for being different. However, There are other gay boys that you would never guess are gay, I've known them too, if anything there are more of those boys. Into all the stuff most boys are into. Nico is a powerful hero in these books so lets celebrate that at last boys who want to be powerful heroes have a gay role model to identify with. I can't wait for the next book and more stories with characters like Nico.