I have now read that book. The main character is definitely gay, but as you say, it doesn't matter to the plot.
I liked many things about it (the first scene where we see our protagonist in the field, the school master's amazing skills of every kind, the beautiful scenery in the main part of the book, and how our main character changes his life).
However, his boss and neighbor are just so horrible and the "slow" changes happen way more quickly and smoothly than they would in real life. I mean, clearly the kids should not have made a trip into town, but amazingly only one bad thing happened. And that thing was bad even if it didn't result in death. Also, when he first arrives at the secret school, our hero was scared to death, but apparently this is all supposed to be funny. If there was no danger, he of all people should have known not to be scared. But danger really was possible, and they don't really address that.
So I don't quite love it. But at least it was a mostly fun book (unlike many I've read) so thanks for the recommendation!
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I liked many things about it (the first scene where we see our protagonist in the field, the school master's amazing skills of every kind, the beautiful scenery in the main part of the book, and how our main character changes his life).
However, his boss and neighbor are just so horrible and the "slow" changes happen way more quickly and smoothly than they would in real life. I mean, clearly the kids should not have made a trip into town, but amazingly only one bad thing happened. And that thing was bad even if it didn't result in death. Also, when he first arrives at the secret school, our hero was scared to death, but apparently this is all supposed to be funny. If there was no danger, he of all people should have known not to be scared. But danger really was possible, and they don't really address that.
So I don't quite love it. But at least it was a mostly fun book (unlike many I've read) so thanks for the recommendation!