Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

In Miguel's Secret Journal: The Four Corners of Earth, Miguel is a gay Latino who lives and goes to school in the Bronx, and this story, written by A.V. Zeppa, is in the form of his journal. In the first book in this series, Miguel came out to his mother and at school. The repercussions were awful -- Miguel's mother, a dysfunctional parent at the best of times, flew into a rage, leaving Miguel bloodied and hiding in his room until paramedics came and took him to the hospital. At school, bullies mock him and make threatening overtures, but Miguel has Gabriel at his side, which makes everything radically different. Miguel and Gabriel are lovers, and they are also angels, something Miguel is still trying to understand. As they navigate an increasingly hostile atmosphere at school, Miguel learns to harness his newly developing powers and finds that his coming out and open relationship with Gabriel has positively changed not only his life but the lives of many others at school.

Miguel's Secret Journal: The Four Corners of Earth reads fine as a stand-alone novel, but I finished it determined to go back and read the first one in A.V. Zeppa's series. This is an amazing book on so many levels. It's a story about courage, art, being different, coming of age, finding love and acceptance. Miguel hides his art and his journal containing his thoughts, feeling and poetry; they are his secret friends and keep him strong. Reading his journal lets the reader share in his life. Reading this book is an intense, emotional and altogether wonderful experience. There's brilliant, edgy and original poetry, and the adventures of Miguel, Gabriel and their friends are examples of urban fantasy at its best. This book rocks.