"Am I Blue?" By Bruce Coville

     Finding your true identity is one of the important themes in the short story "Am I Blue? " by Bruce Coville. The main character, Vincent, is confused with his sexuality, and often gets teased for it. For example, Butch Corrigan, a bully, pushes him into a dirty puddle at the beginning because he is convinced that Vincent wants to "jump his bones." That's when Melvin comes into the story. Melvin helps Vincent out of the puddle and tells him that he is his fairy godfather; that he has come to grant him three wishes and help him find out who he really is.
     Accepting your identity and not deceiving yourself and others is very important in life. Vincent is not sure whether he is gay or not. When he is in the coffee shop with Melvin, he thinks to himself, "I didn't mention that I had been trying to figure out the same thing for about a year now," after asking Melvin if him being Melvin's "first case" meant he was gay. This shows that Vincent is confused about his identity and insecure about himself.
     One thing I noticed was that if there is a boy who bullies gay people, such as Butch Corrigan, they usually turn out to be gay themselves. In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, a boy who bullies the main character's best friend Patrick for being gay turns out to be in love with him. I think that authors usually add this element to their books to show that the bully has a reason for being homophobic: he is afraid of his feelings and himself.
     I think that "Blue Day" not only helped Vincent, but a lot of other people, too. For example, it helped Butch Corrigan. Overall, it helped the world accept gay people more, now there is no more hiding from yourself.