Seventeen-year-old Luke Chesser is trying to forget his spectacular failure of a love life. He practices marching band moves for hours in the hot Texas sun, deals with his disapproving father, and slyly checks out the new band field tech, Curtis Cameron. Before long, Luke is falling harder than he knew he could. And this time, he intends to play it right. Since testing positive for HIV, Curtis has careened between numbness and fear. Too ashamed to tell anyone, Curtis can't possibly act on his feelings. And Luke--impulsive, funny, and more tempting than he realizes--won't take a hint. Even when Curtis distances himself it backfires, leaving him with no idea how to protect Luke from the truth. Confronting a sensitive topic with candor and aplomb, acclaimed author J. H. Trumble renders a modern love story as sweet, sharp, and messy as the real thing, where easy answers are elusive, and sometimes the only impossible thing is to walk away. Praise For J. H. Trumble's Don't Let Me Go "A sexy, vibrant, and heartfelt debut." --Martin Wilson, award-winning author of What They Always Tell Us "Deeply moving. . .will be appreciated by adults and teens alike." -- Publishers Weekly , starred review "A charming story. Trumble's love for the characters is evident on every page, and it's contagious." --Robin Reardon, author of A Secret Edge Both college sophomore and music techie Curtis and high-school junior Luke, a clarinetist new to town, have come out as gay. While their siblings and Luke’s mom (Curtis’ mom died) are supportive and involved, Luke’s dad is a horror of a homophobe, a simmering pot ready to explode—as though there were not already enough obstacles to true love in Trumble’s engaging tale. Readers see into the minds of these young men as they speak as first-person narrators, creating a tone of great intimacy as Luke becomes involved with Curtis, who spends his time away from school assisting with the band he once starred in. When he learns that he’s HIV-positive, he becomes nearly paralyzed with terror and distances himself from Luke, though circumstances inevitably reunite them. Trumble’s believable and sympathetic characters, fresh writing, and breezy, unforced dialogue keep readers keenly involved as love faces down fear. --Whitney Scott Used Book in Good Condition