2 - Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

This is another one from my enormous stack of unread books.  I've been meaning to get to it for some time.  I love David Levithan's works (click on the tag at the end of the post for other books I've posted about).  He's heartfelt, charming, funny, and authentic.

This book follows three couples and two other young men over the course of a couple of days.  One couple, Harry and Craig, are exes and friends who are attempting to break the world record for longest kiss (32+ hours!).  Another couple, Avery and Ryan, meet at a gay prom and gradually reveal their secrets to each other.  A third couple, Neil and Peter, have been dating for about a year, but they are still learning about love and being together.  One of the young men, Cooper, struggles with being suddenly and accidentally outed to his family.  Another, Tariq, struggles to recover from a vicious attack that left him with more than just physical injuries.

The book is narrated by a Greek chorus consisting of gay men who died of AIDS.  They provide a unique perspective on the trials of coming out and loving as gay teens in the 21st century.  Their commentary is both heartbreaking and hopeful.

As the book moves toward its climax, the pace picks up, pushed relentlessly higher by shorter glimspes at each character, increase space on the page, and snappier transitions.  As usual, Levithan not only creates compelling characters and tells an honest story, he also uses every part of the writer's craft, right down to line breaks and spacing, to tell his story.  It's amazing and wonderful.

This book also features a short afterword, in which Levithan reflects on the confluence of events and experiences that helped him create this book.  In a time when LGBT youth still struggle with acceptance, bullying, and increased risks of homelessness, drug use, and suicide, this is an important book.

Word count: 200
Find it on Amazon!

Diversity in YA Summer Reading Challenge!

The ladies over at Diversity in YA have issued a challenge. This summer, they would like to see readers reading books with LGBT characters or characters of color. Readers who do this and write an essay by September 1 will be entered in a contest to win a whole bunch of books!

I love books with diverse characters.

I am always interested in a way to win a whole bunch of books.

This is a perfect challenge for me! So...of course I'll be reading this summer. Some of the books I may read:

• Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• The Last Herald-Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
• tithe by Holly Black
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Meaning of Matthew by Judy Sheperd

I'm sure there are others, but that's a start. You can find information about the challenge at Diversity in YA's website.

There is a great list of LGBTQ YA Novels with Characters of Color if you're interested in hitting both aspects of the challenge in one book. I haven't read any of the books on the list, but I've enjoyed other books by Alex Sanchez (The God Box and Boyfriends with Girlfriends made the list), whose LGBTQ hispanic characters are fantastic! I adore everything I've read by David Levithan, whose Love is the Higher Law made the list. I'm also excited to get my hands on some books by Steve Kluger (My Most Excellent Year) and Malinda Lo (Huntress). Happy reading!

Essential Books for Teens and Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

A Tweet from @MacKidsBooks via @halseanderson led me to an Amazon list of Essential Books for Teens. What a cool list, even if there are so many I would add. :) I still haven't finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak because it's just so sad, but it is without a doubt one of the most well-written stories I've ever seen. I loved The Giver by Lois Lowry and have always encouraged my students (and friends, and family, and complete strangers in the bookstore) to read it whenever possible. I blogged about Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green back in February, and was beyond excited to see a few of my more mature students reading it (and passing it around, recommending it to friends!!) toward the end of the school year. I read and blogged about The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman waaaaay back at the beginning of 2008 when book blogging was still sort of new and my opinions were young and unformed. I don't entirely disagree with everything I wrote, but I think I would write something entirely different today. I own Crank by Ellen Hopkins and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (both of whom I follow on Twitter) and will be reading their books soon. All in all a convincing list.

At any rate, while I was checking out the Essential Books for Teens, I discovered a link to Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. I was deeply conflicted! My bookavore heart leapt with joy at the sight of the familiar cover layout, the pretty green color, and the idea of another book from such a talented author. Then my heart sank: I'm going to have to reread Eragon and Eldest, because it's been so long that I've forgotten them, and then I'm going to have to finally get my hands on Brisingr and read it. I'm not sure why I haven't read it yet, other than the backlog of books I mentioned here. But now, surely, I'll have to!

8 - Hero by Perry Moore

I was excited to find a book with a gay teen superhero! As one of the blurbs says, this is a genrebuster. Thom, the protagonist, has two BIG problems to deal with: he's gay, and he's developing super powers. His distant dad, a disgraced superhero with no innate powers of his own, isn't going to be happy about either of Thom's secrets. Consequently, Thom's running himself ragged to work, go to school, volunteer, save the world, and kiss a guy. Any guy, really, even the super-creepy one who picks him up in the parking lot of the Purple Cactus. Oh, and Dark Hero won't quit following him. And then his invisible mother shows up in his bedroom with a pocket flask and more secrets.

This book was full of every trope and cliche Moore could possibly pack in. In the grand tradition of pulpy superhero stories, it was cheesy and bordered on silly at times. But I loved it. Thom was a very real, flawed character with problems, mistakes, and insecurities galore. I was rooting for him for the very beginning. His team of superhero hopefuls was quirky and kind of pathetic, but they supported him when it counted and didn't even care that he was gay. It's good to have friends who accept you no matter what.

Sadly, I learned that Perry Moore passed away a few months ago. He was an executive producer for The Chronicles of Narnia and did various other things in Hollywood. Sad that such talent is gone.

4, 5, 6, 7 - Mortal Instruments and more!

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
The first book in the Mortal Instruments series! I am hooked! I devoured this, rushed to the bookstore to get the second book when I was about 50 pages from the end, and started it immediately. It's a beautiful alternate-New York setting. There are vampires, werewolves, and warlocks. There are mysterious, beautiful, tattooed Shadowhunters. What more can a girl ask for?

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Again, I devoured this! I am particularly enjoying Alec and Magnus! :) Also, Clary's developing talent with runes is intriguing! Makes me want to go study runes...but then again, I love languages, so that's not too surprising. I don't want to say too much because I hate spoilers!

Wide Awake by David Levithan
This political fantasy by the author of the fabulous Boy Meets Boy was a lot of fun! I will say up front that there were many political comments that I emphatically DID NOT agree with (I am fiscally conservative and a strong supporter of less government), but I can definitely get on board with the idea of a world in which we could elect a gay, Jewish President. Especially one who is married with kids. What a wonderful world that would be. I hope, for the sake of my friends, my family, and my future children, that such a thing comes to pass.

Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
This sweet novel chronicles the development of the relationships between Nelson, out and proud teen; Kyle, Nelson's best friend who is lurking in the shadows of his closet; and Jason, the school's star jock who loves his girlfriend but might like Kyle too. I enjoyed the budding relationships among the boys. The story was full of hope and joy, even when things were filled with angst.

3 - Totally Joe by James Howe

This is another book I picked up last Friday from the library. It didn't take me too long to read it, although I think I might've read Another Kind of Cowboy a bit faster.

It's organized as an alphabiography, a school assignment in which Joe has to write a chapter of his autobiography for each letter. In the story, Joe is gay and very comfortable with who he is (although his coming-out scene is kind of cute). However, he is learning to let other people be who they are instead of expecting the same level of self-awareness and comfort from them! It's a very touching story and a good example of how kids can do great things given the opportunity. I also like that Joe seems to like boys, but isn't interested in kissing or being very sexual, since he is only in the seventh grade. I think that's very realistic and healthy.

I was very excited to learn that James Howe, one of my favorite childhood authors, is gay. It's good that kids have such outstanding role models to look up to.

2 - Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby

I visited a branch of the public library I've never tried before! I went to the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch on Friday afternoon. I checked out several books which I'll probably be blogging over the next week or so.

I started with Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby. I devoured it in one day! It tells the story of Cleo, a spoiled rich girl whose life is careening out of control, and Alex, a poor boy who is obsessed with horses and happens to be gay. They meet, first at a horse show, and later at Limestone Farm, where they both train with the retired men who live there.

There were several things I loved about this book: the retired men, Fergus and Ivan, who are probably a couple; the way Alex's sisters and aunt just accept him, as does Cleo after an awkward moment; the horses (I was never a horse-crazy girl, but I did read all the Saddle Club books at the library, and I loved them). The characters are vibrant and true, and the setting (Vancouver Island) is different enough to be interesting.

I would say this books leans more toward the type of LGBT literature where a main character just happens to be gay, but the story is more about that character's life and adventures rather than about his (in this case) sexuality.

I thoroughly enjoyed it!

1 - Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green

Oh, my goodness. What can I even say about this amazing, incredible book?

I started this book back in October. I plodded through the first half slowly. I was bored. will grayson annoyed me with his constant kvetching. Will Grayson wasn't gay, which confused me. Wasn't this book supposed to be about two gay Will Graysons?

Then, I came to the fateful night where Will Grayson met will grayson and everything was thrown into chaos. I was immediately hooked, and read ~150 pages today because I had to know what happened to the Wills and Tiny and Jane.

This book is full of wisdom about what it means to be kind, to be friends, and to be in love. It's full of awkward moments and transcendent moments. I loved it.

A few days ago, I blogged about LGBT literature. I mentioned that we needed more books like Levithan's Boy Meets Boy in which being gay is just a part of who the characters are, and they go on about their lives and tell their stories.
None of the gay characters in this story seem to face any real prejudice, beyond the innocent and strikingly benign ignorance of a Little League team or the math nerds at the lunch table. In some ways, the Chicago-suburb setting of this book is like the tiny town in Boy Meets Boy, a fantasyland where being gay is totally mainstream and accepted. Oh, how I long for this day to come.

I think my favorite part of the book comes almost at the very end. I won't give away what has happened or who the speaker is, but here's a quote for you:

"I want you to come over to my house in twenty years with your dude and your adopted kids and I want our kids to hang out and I want to like, drink wine and talk about the Middle East or whatever we're gonna want to do when we're old. We've been friends too long to pick, but if we could pick, I'd pick you."

(On a side note, I edited the above for language. There is a lot of language in this book. Too much for a school library, and too much for my students, even if they could handle the thematic elements. Honestly, it didn't really bother me.)

LGBT Literature

My opinions on homosexuality have grown and changed a lot in the last few years. I am a product of a relatively conservative Christian upbringing. Outsiders might consider my family ultra-conservative, but from the inside, I know that my immediate family, at least, is simply conservative, not ultra-anything. :) So you can imagine the response I was conditioned to have growing up. However, as an adult, there are a number of people who are dear to my heart, both family and friends, who are gay. Because of this, I have continuously revised my opinions. I have become something of an outspoken supporter of marriage equality and an avid reader of LGBT fiction. Oh, but there's one problem: there's not much LGBT fiction, and a lot of it is *bad*.

Two posts showed up in the Book and Author section of my Google Reader tonight that made me think. First was a review of Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card. Second was a response to a Dear Story Siren post over at Story Siren's blog. Both made references to gay characters or LGBT literature. Story Siren listed a number of LGBT titles, must of which I have not read (although I have Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green!) I *want* to read them, though. (Confession: I almost bought a copy of Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez yesterday at B&N. I resisted, though!) The Card piece mentions that the Homecoming series has a gay character. I had no idea. (I love Card's writing very much, I am fascinated with the Enderverse, and I've seen him speak twice, but I haven't read the Homecoming books.)

So...I'm sure you'd like to know what the point is. I promise my rambling thoughts will catch up. :)

I wonder if the problem with the lack of LGBT literature (especially in the YA/Teen section) has to do with presentation. Do we want books about *BEING GAY*, or do we want books about life, love, adventure, dystopia, vampires...whatever...which happen to have gay characters? I think there is a market for both, again especially in the YA/Teen section. One of the great things about YA/Teen lit is that it allows young people to read about *themselves* in every situation. So of course we need books about being gay, coming out, falling in love with someone of the same gender, because those are situations in which teens find themselves. However, as a teen it is also nice to read about someone who is just like you going out and doing something extraordinary, surviving something having experiences that don't necessarily have anything to do with who you are. So it makes sense to met that LGBT teens would want to read about LGBT characters fighting evil, falling in love with vampires, or escaping some menacing dystopian society, just like straight teens do.

So maybe the problem is this: we need more books with LGBT characters. We need some books to be about being gay, and we also need some books about other things (dystopia? vampires?) that have gay characters. But they need to be *good* books that people will want to read no matter their personal sexual orientation.

Books with gay characters/themes: parts of list borrowed from Story Siren...thanks!)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan & John Green
Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman
Twelve Long Months by Brian Mallory
Ash by Malinda Lo
I am J by Cris Beam
Sister Mischief by Laura Good
Huntress by Malinda Lo
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Rainbow Boysby Alex Sanchez

Christmas Gifts Abound!

I am so blessed to have friends and family who invariably choose wonderful books for me! Not as though I have any trouble choosing books for myself, as you can see by the last part of this list. :) If I read just the books on this list, I will have matched my total for 2010. Wow. I should get on that.

From Mom:
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
Millenium Falcon by James Luceno
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking
Jedi Twilight by Michael Reaves

From Mandy:
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Lindsey:
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stahl

From Sandy:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Other books borrowed, bought, or discovered on shelves:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Shiver by Maggie Steifvater
Linger by Maggie Steifvater
Paper Towns by John Green
The Meaning of Matthew by Judy Shepard
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Homebody by Orson Scott Card
Welcome to the Ark by Stephanie S Tolan
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
la línea by Ann Jaramillo
The Queen's Governess by Karen Harper
The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Abyss by Troy Denning
Order 66 by Karen Traviss

26 - How They Met by David Levithan

I loved the format of this book! Each year for Valentine's Day, David Levithan writes a "story about love" for his friends as a gift. This tradition began when he was in high school physics class, looking for anything to distract him from the lecture. He began perusing his textbook for anything remotely romantic and weaving it all into a story.

The collection includes stories about all types of loves: straight, gay, lesbian, unrequited, undeclared, brand-new, and forever.

My favorite was the story of the gay boy whose little brother stood up for him in a surprisingly courageous way.

24 - Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

I have lots to say about this book! First, the saga of getting my hands on it! I visited a certain friend who lives in a certain small town in our state, and we spent the weekend discussing books (which is awesome) and the rights denied to people we love because of who they love. At some point during the weekend, we made the usual trek to the big-box bookstore. After perusing the shelves for some time and discovering that not only was this title missing, this AUTHOR was missing entirely, we asked for help. I approached the desk and had the following conversation:

Me: (bright smile) Hi, I'm looking for a book by David Levithan. The title is Boy Meets Boy.
Clerk: Um...hang on. Yeah, we're showing lots of copys available, but...we don't stock that here. Sorry...
*At this, I glance at my friend."
Clerk: We can order it for you in a few days!
Me: No, thanks, I'm from out of town.

So...I went to my local Barnes and Noble at home and plucked it off the shelf! Unfortunately, I didn't see anything else by Levithan, who is definitely an author I want to read more of. $7.71 later, Boy Meets Boy was mine and all I had to do was explain it to my mom. :)

This book has won numerous awards, including An ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults and A Lambda Literary Award. According to Levithan's website, it's "a dippy, happy gay romance". And so it is.

One review of this book claimed that the prophecy of a world where there was no discrimination against gay or lesbian couples was exactly what the genre needed. I guess because this world is so different from the one we currently live in, it felt contrived and unbelievable. The first half of the book bothered me in more ways than one. However, the ending of the book was so sweet, so heartfelt, and so true that I couldn't help but love it. Now I see why it won so many awards.

My favorite part of the book came when Paul, the openly gay narrator, spent seven days trying to repair his relationship with Noah. The sweet things he did are the types of things any person in love would long for, no matter their sexual preference. It was all so beautiful.

I also really enjoyed the way the group banded together to rescue Tony. I love the relationship between Paul and Tony, two gay boys who knew early on they were not supposed to fall in love. One of the things I've talked at length with a dear friend about is that most literature about/for/by the gay or lesbian community is either angst-ridden or overly sexualized. This book was neither. Even though the society was simply wishful thinking, and it is unlikely that that many unusual characters could ever coexist peacefully in one school or be surrounded by that many supportive and understanding adults, the main characters were real and beautiful, even in their faults. It's nice to see gay and lesbian youth in relationships that aren't romantic in nature. It's nice to see them searching for the one special person they want to be with, just like straight kids do for the most part. I appreciate such a caring, respectful, realistic perspective on these kids.

This has made me wildly curious about other books by this author. He wrote the book Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, which was recently made into a movie. He also wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which I have and am excited about reading. :)