America's Boy: A Memoir

In this memoir, Wade Rouse recounts his Midwestern childhood and coming of age as a gay man. Born in Granby, a small farm town in the southwest Missouri Ozarks, Rouse felt out of place from an early age—a feeling that crystallized when he participated in his family's mock Miss America pageant at age five, wearing his grandmother's red heels and his mother's black-and-white polka-dot bikini. Life in his conservative hometown became more difficult after his older brother died shortly after Rouse graduated junior high school. Rouse responded by suppressing his sexuality to spare his parents further grief. Over the following years, he struggled with obsessive-compulsive behaviors and overeating before eventually coming out to himself, losing weight and gaining confidence. Rouse's account blends humor with heartfelt reflection on his family, exploring themes of acceptance and pride. The memoir captures both joyful and painful memories from a particular era in rural Middle America, offering an intimate portrait of a family and the personal journey toward self-acceptance.