I’ll Get There. It Better be Worth the Trip by John Donovan

6.3

Storyline

6.0/10

Queer Representation

5.0/10

Writing

8.0/10

Pros

• First Queer YA Book
• Relatable Character
• Quick Read

Cons

• Problematic Representation
• Outdated
• Stereotypical

Title: I’ll Get There. It Better be Worth the Trip

Author: James Donovan

Original Publication Date: June 1969

Original Publisher: Harper & Row

Page Length: 199

Queer Representation: 2 possibly gay teenage boy protagonists

Widely regarded as the first ever novel to explicitly address themes of queerness meant for a young adult audience, I’ll Get There, is certainly worth the read, even if some of the elements now seem outdated and problematic. 

Memorable Quote: “Then Father talks a lot about how hysterical people sometimes get when they discover that other people aren’t just what they are expected to be. He tells me there are Republicans who are always secretly disappointed when friends turn out to be Democrats, and Catholics who would like their friends to be Catholic, and so forth. He says that such people are narrow-minded he believes, and funny, too, unless they become hysterical about getting everyone to be just alike. Then they are dangerous. They become religious bigots, super-patriots, super-anti-patriots, and do I understand? I tell him I think I do, but can’t people learn to understand other people? He thinks they can, but only if they want to.”

REVIEW:

This novel is told from the perspective of thirteen year old Davy Ross as he struggles to make sense of the world around him and understand his place in it. After the death of his grandmother, Davy, along with his dog Fred, is forced to move to New York City to live with his alcoholic mother. In addition to dealing with his grief over his grandmother’s death and his mother’s constant mood swings, Davy struggles to understand the meaning of the relationship he is developing with his classmate Altschuler. When not ignoring each other for one reason or another, the two boys spend as much of their time together as possible. The two boys bond over the fact that they both have strained relationships with their parents and that both have recently lost a loved one — Altschuler’s best friend before Davy moved to New York dies after being sick for quite a while; in fact, Davy is told to take this boy’s seat on his first day causing Altschuler to instantly dislike him.

The relationship takes a somewhat surprising turn when the two boys kiss, prompted by none other than Fred. Both boys try in their own ways to understand what this kiss means for them, but Davy especially is troubled by it. After being faced with yet another personal tragedy, Davy believes that he is the reason and vows that what happened between him and Altschuler can never happen again. The book ends with the two boys making amends and agreeing to “respect each other,” although exactly what this means remains unclear. The ending remains open to interpretation depending on what the reader considers the “there” of the title to represent. On the one hand, it allows for the possibility that Davy will be successful in turning away from his queer urges, but the more hopeful reading is that he will one day be able to embrace his queer identity proudly.

The impact of Donovan’s novel is undeniable. Donovan’s writing moves the story along quickly and elegantly, making this a book you just won’t want to put down. Even over four decades later, the story remains relatable and most readers can find some part of themselves reflected back at them in Davy. In some ways, Donovan was greatly ahead of his time and paved the way for the field of queer young adult literature to develop. Yet, there are a few ways in which this novel reads as being quite problematic. Davy represents many of the stereotypes of gay men at the time: he is small and somewhat effeminate, does not live with any father figure, and has an alcoholic mother. He also supports the idea that being gay is just a phase. Moreover, the idea that queer characters need to suffer because of their sexuality is one that has stayed prominent in young adult literature for years after. Yet, I’ll Get There. It Better be Worth the Trip remains a must read queer young adult novel, even if only for its historical significance.

But we must ask ourselves: Did we get there? And has it been worth the trip?