About
The book, the boys, and the road between them.
Jathan Forever is the travel journal of two fictional young men from Ethan's Edge — set the summer after the book, once Ethan and Jacob are finally together. They wrote each other's introductions. They did not let each other edit first.
Vermont. Triplet. Talks to strangers. Cries at scenery.
Ethan Highfield
Written by Jacob
Ethan grew up on a quiet road outside Burlington, Vermont, one of three — his brother Ben is his identical twin, and his sister Abby is older by eight minutes and in charge of all of them. He has never once been alone, even inside his own head, and somehow he still turned out to be the most open person I've ever met. I mean, it took a while, ya know. But it happened.
Here's the short version: he feels everything, all the way down, out loud. He'll cry at a canyon, narrate a sunrise like a nature documentary, and talk to the guy at the next gas pump like they've been friends for years. When I met him, he was holding himself so tight he could barely breathe, terrified of being seen. Watching him stop being afraid of that has been the best thing I've ever gotten to witness.
He packs four jackets for every trip and wears none of them; well, except that gray hoodie. He's brave in the ways that actually count. He's the reason I started wanting things again.
That's Ethan. You'll like him. Everybody does.
— J
Minnesota. Senator's kid. Quiet. Steady. Annoyingly always right.
Jacob Monroe
Written by Ethan
Okay so. Jacob Monroe. Where do I even start.
He's from Minnesota — his dad's a state senator, a fact Jacob mentions approximately never — and he came out to Vermont to stay with his Aunt Christine, which is the single luckiest thing that has ever happened to me. He's the quiet one. He says about a third of what he's actually thinking, and the other two-thirds you have to learn to read, and learning to read him is basically my favorite hobby.
Here's the thing about Jacob: he's been through something that would've made most people close up for good. For a while, it did. He'd decided it was safer not to want anybody. And then — I still don't totally know how — he let me in anyway. He notices everything. He gives me his jacket before I ask. And sometimes he checks the tire pressure nine times because he's trying not to say goodbye out loud.
He cannot dance. At all. It's genuinely tragic. I love him so much it's embarrassing.
That's my Jacob. I got really, really lucky.
— E
I knew the truth. The one about me. I just couldn't make myself say it out loud.
Here's my situation. I'm one of triplets, which means I have never once in my life been alone inside my own head. Ben's my identical twin and reads me like a billboard. Abby's eight minutes older and runs the entire operation. We live on a quiet road outside Burlington, Vermont, where nothing ever happens — except for that one year that left a mark. I've got the scar on my temple to prove it.
One secret, that what I had left that was actually mine, and I was holding onto it so tightly I could barely breathe. I'd gotten great at watching the world through my bedroom window and pretending I wasn't.
Then Jacob Monroe showed up.
He's the senator's kid from Minnesota, staying with his aunt for the summer. He's quiet in a way that makes me want to fill every silence, and he looks at me like he already knows the thing I can't say. He's also carrying something dark of his own — a loss that taught him it's safer not to want anybody at all.
So, now I've got my family all up in my business, a whole town that somehow figured me out before I did, and the most patient, infuriating, wonderful guy I've ever met — just waiting for me to be brave.
Turns out the edge I'd been standing on this whole time was the start of everything.
Ethan's Edge is a funny, tender, big-hearted YA romance about coming out, being seen, and finally saying it out loud.
The author
Gary Stream
From the pastures of a Western Michigan dairy farm to the vibrant energy of Sacramento, California, Gary Stream’s journey has always been grounded in community and story. (And yes, he still maintains that cows can be cool if they want to be.) Ethan’s Edge marks his debut into the world of fiction, where he is dedicated to crafting meaningful books and short stories for LGBTQ youth.
Find him online via Instagram: @garystream