Lone Stars

Written by Justin Deabler

Narrated by Michael Crouch

Lone Stars follows the arc of four generations of a Texan family in a changing America. Julian Warner is a new dad wrestling with a question his husband posed:
What will you tell our son about the people you came from, now that they’re gone? To find the answers, Julian must piece together the trails of his parents’
lives and the ways that they shaped his own—going back in time to Eisenhower’s immigration border raids, an epistolary love affair during the Vietnam War,
crumbling marriages, queer migrations to Cambridge and New York, and the disorienting polarization of Obama’s second term.

In the answers lies hope. The hope that Julian, like the generations who came before him, will somehow learn how to be a good parent. And the hope that by
uncloseting ourselves—as immigrants, smart women, gay people—we will find power in empathy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705013168

Reviews for Lone Stars

[brangwinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another outstanding debut novel this week. Deabler’s protagonist is a gay man who grew up in conservative Texas. Julian mother doted on him, recognized his intelligence, and homeschooled him for his early years. His father, a Vietnam veteran, had girlfriend after girlfriend and the marriage finally ended in divorce. Justin struggled with his sexual identity, but entering Harvard early, he could finally become the person he really was. In the introduction, we are introduced to Justin and his husband as they welcome a new baby to their home. The book, at times, was uncomfortable as the reader became emotionally involved with Julian, but in the end, it is a triumph on standing up for who you are.