Jonathan Evison’s 2018 novel Lawn Boy tells the story of Mike Muñoz, a young Mexican American man grappling with racism, economic hardship, and sexual identity. MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi sits down with the author for a conversation about how kids navigate establishing their identity, how achieving the “American Dream” is different for those who aren’t White and don’t fit the sexual binary, and why being uncomfortable is a fact of life we all must accept.

Evison, who is in real life a gay Mexican American, writes the coming-of-age story with humor and witty observation of American society. Discovering one’s identity can be an uncomfortable, complex, and daunting process, but we all go through it. The novel’s frank and explicit language is geared toward an adult and teen audience, but that hasn’t stopped attempts to have the book removed from libraries across the United States, making it the 7th most banned and challenged book of 2022.

Listen to Ali’s interview with Jonathan Evison:

Watch Velshi and Evison: 

Velshi on banned books on MSNBC:

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