Oddly Normal: One Family's Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms With His Sexualityby Schwartz John ; New York , Gotham Books , 2012 , 290 pages.

Three years ago, John Schwartz, a national correspondent at The New York Times, got the call that every parent hopes never to receive: his 13-year-old son, Joe, was in the hospital following a failed suicide attempt. After mustering the courage to come out to his classmates, Joe’s disclosure --delivered in a tirade about homophobic attitudes --was greeted with dismay and confusion by his fellow students. Hours later, he took an overdose of pills.