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!

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.

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.)

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.