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!

More books I have acquired lately!

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo
This little book is about a boy who was very sick and almost died. Later, he told his parents a detailed account of his trip to Heaven and his visit with Jesus and the angels.

Foxfire ed. Eliot Wigginton
(Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by the Signs, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining) What more can a girl ask for in a Valentine's Day gift? :)

Fang by James Patterson
Next in the Maximum Ride series, I was just waiting for it to come out in paperback so I could get it. Yay!

Another NF book...

I want to read She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall for two reasons:

1. Madeleine L'Engle wrote the foreword. That's enough, right there.

2. Cassie died at Columbine High School, just as Rachel Scott did. My school is hosting the Rachel's Challenge program this week, which I am very much looking forward to. I think this would be a heartbreaking, amazing story.

12-16 and birthday books

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is the second book in a series about what would happen to the world as we know it if the moon were knocked just a little closer. This installment is set in New York City, where Alex Morales struggles to keep himself and his sisters alive through the first cruel winter. His struggles and experiences are quite different from Miranda's were in the first book. His mother is at work and his father is out of the country when the asteroid strikes the moon, meaning that he is the man of the house. He is able to rely on the Catholic church for awhile, but eventually even that chain of command breaks down and he is launched into a desperate struggle to get out of the dying city. I can't wait to see what the third book brings!

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Written in classic Conroy style, this story touched on a new topic: homosexuality and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's. I saw echoes of Beach Music and The Prince of Tides in the characters and events. In particular the beautiful and damaged heroines with their sibilant names seem as though they could walk in and out of each other's stories: Shyla, Starla, Sheba, and Savannah. Conroy's description of the hurricane which rips through Charleston captivated me and reminded me of the scene from Beach Music in which Shyla and Jack dance in the beach house as the waves tear it apart during a similar storm. It's fascinating to see so many symbols and devices used in so many different ways.

When the Wind Blows by James Patterson

I haven't quite finished this one, but I am enjoying it immensely. It's written in standard Patterson style: short chapters, lots of action and dialog, fast moving story, nice blend of science fact and character-driven morality. Also, I am confused by what I once read, that the Max in this book is not the same Max in the Maximum Ride books. I think that this cannot possibly be true, as she is nearly the same character! The other bird-kids are different, but really in name only. (And I think I prefer their names in this to their names in the YA books.)

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

As usual, this came out right before my birthday and Mom and Daddy gave it to me as a gift. I enjoyed it, although I am getting a little frustrated that the characters (specifically Morelli and Ranger) are completely static at this point. I would like to see them grow and change, as real people do in real life.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

This is definitively the most amazing book I've read yet this year. It tops Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, although in truth the two are related. In One Second After, an EMP is detonated over the United States, destroying all electronic devices in an instant. The novel, which is set in Black Mountain, North Carolina (a place with which I am reasonably familiar), then describes the efforts of the people there to survive as their world is thrown into chaos. The threat of an EMP is very real in our world today, where people rely increasingly on electronics to complete simple tasks and the generation which knew how to complete those tasks without electronics is dying out. This should be required reading for every American. It's simply terrifying, beautifully written, and compelling.