Singlets and Secrets (Queer YA Coming of Age): How Hard Would YOU Fight for True Love?
Fourteen-year-old Aiden Rothe’s life is full of secrets, and his sexuality is only the tip of the iceberg. While his high school wrestling team views gay and strong as mutually exclusive, Aiden is determined to prove them wrong. It’s time for a gay athlete to take top prize… if only he wasn’t crushing hard on Mateo Hernandez, captain of the JV wrestling team and a major heartthrob.
Locked out of the wrestling scene, Aiden finds an unlikely mentor in his English teacher, Lloyd Samuels, who introduces him to karate. When Aiden’s honesty about his sexuality backfires with some homophobic fellow students, Mr. S even steps in to protect him, creating a school martial arts club in the process. Once word gets around, there’s an exciting new challenge on campus-the championship wrestling team against a bunch of outsiders and underdogs. It’s the ultimate battle between the cool kids and the rebels. And for the main event? A showdown between Aiden versus Mateo. But can Aiden fight his first love and prove himself at the same time?
Dripping with raw emotion, unexpected twists, and more than a dash of hope, Singlets and Secrets isn’t just more high school drama. It’s a deep dive into figuring out who you are and accepting it no matter what someone else may think-a heroic journey that speaks to the struggling teenager in us all.
Pride and Persistence (Queer YA Coming of Age): After a roller coaster of ups and downs last year, Aiden Rothe starts sophomore year on a high. After all, he’s dating the boy of his dreams. What else matters? But Aiden’s hopes for a drama-free school year are thrown aside when a new student captures everyone’s Michelle, an incredibly athletic, transgender black belt.
Fearing a repeat of last year’s bullying, Aiden’s karate club reaches out to Michelle, hoping to recruit her. To their surprise, she already has a team. Michelle is training with local police Captain Decker at his MMA studio, the epicenter of LGBTQ+ hatred in and around Washington High. Soon after, Decker and his notorious partner, Washington High Wrestling Coach Krake, announce a new tournament with a $25k college scholarship as the grand prize. For some, like Mateo, it’s a crucial opportunity—he lost his scholarship chances when he came out and quit the wrestling team the year before.
Can the true meaning of martial arts heal the divisions in this town, or will fighting only make things worse? A rousing story of love versus hate, where hidden truths and life-altering decisions lay behind every corner, Pride and Persistence celebrates the indomitable spirit within us all—the fighter that refuses to stay down, no matter how many times one falls.
Fearless and Fabulous COMING MARCH 2027 – PREORDER HERE
Darkness Calls (Horror) : The line between light and dark is thinner than you think.
In the woods surrounding a quiet Midwestern town, an ancient malevolence awakens. Unseen by most, the Darkness hungers for the radiant energy of children-a feast it craves with an insatiable thirst. A decade after a nightmarish onslaught shattered the community, this evil thought to be vanquished returns, more ferocious than ever.
Christina finds herself once again at the heart of the storm. The Darkness destroyed her family and twisted her childhood friend Fiara into something neither fully human nor wholly monster. But this time, Christina refuses to be a victim. Determined to fight back, she rallies an extraordinary group of gifted individuals, each with unique talents and untapped energy. Together, they form an unlikely alliance, bound by a shared to rescue their abducted friends and unravel the sinister enigma that threatens their world.
As they venture deep into nightmarish realms, monstrous creatures and inner demons rise to confront them. Secrets become their weapons, trust their shield. The line between light and dark blurs, and the fate of their world hangs by a thread. In this battle against ancient malevolence, only the bravest hearts will endure.
Darkness Calls beckons you into a world where the line between light and dark blurs, where friendships forged in adversity become the armor against ancient malevolence. Will their combined strengths be enough to stem the tide of darkness? The battle for survival is about to ignite once more, and only the bravest hearts will endure.
All books are available in paperback at Rubber Rose or on Bookshop.org!
Joe Chianakas is an award-winning author, professor, public speaker, and LGBTQ+ advocate whose work explores identity, resilience, hope, and the power of storytelling to help people feel seen. A multi-time Teacher of the Year winner, Joe teaches communication and writing courses while encouraging students and readers alike to embrace authenticity, empathy, creativity, and self-expression.
Joe is the author of multiple novels spanning young adult fiction and horror. His Unveiling Aiden series, including Singlets and Secrets and Pride and Persistence, reimagines a martial-arts coming-of-age story through a queer lens, exploring masculinity, first love, bullying, chosen family, and the courage to stand up for who you are. Pride and Persistence was named a finalist for the 2025 Imaginarium Award for Best Young Adult Book of the Year.
His horror fiction, including Darkness Calls and Rabbit in Red, blends suspense, emotional depth, childhood fears, grief, and symbolic storytelling. Darkness Calls was named a finalist for the 2026 Imaginarium Award for Best Horror Book of the Year.
In 2025, Joe received the River City Pride Arts & Entertainment Award for his contributions to LGBTQ+ visibility and representation through storytelling, education, and advocacy. He has appeared at Pride events, schools, libraries, conferences, and community organizations throughout the Midwest, speaking about communication, representation, creativity, identity, and resilience.
Joe recently made his national television debut on PBS’s nationally syndicated The Whitney Reynolds Show, where he discussed storytelling, education, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and helping readers feel less alone through fiction and authentic representation.
Through his books, speaking, and teaching, Joe continues to champion stories that remind people, especially those who have ever felt like outsiders, that they deserve to be the hero of their own story.
Learn more about Joe and his works here!