Outside the lines: Sarah Schulman's truth

The Child [book by Sarah Schulman, 2007] was inspired by the tragic case of Sam Manzie, a New Jersey teen who sexually assaulted and strangled an 11-year-old boy who came by his house selling candy. In court, Manzie's parents claimed their son was "pushed over the edge" by his sexual relationship with Stephen Simmons, a 43-year-old man the 15-year-old boy had met online.

In The Child, 15-year-old Stew Mulcahey murders his young nephew after David Ziemska, his older lover, is arrested for pedophilia. The book takes an unvarnished look at violence, desire, homophobia, teen sexuality and the age of consent. In a lengthy and unusual author's note that accompanies the book, Schulman explains that though she finished the novel in 1999, it took nearly a decade to get it into print.

source: Article 'Outside the Lines: Sarah Schulman's Truth' by Linda Villarosa; www.afterellen.com/column/2007/8/outsidethelines-schulman; AfterEllen.com; 21 August 2007