Boy Meets BOY

So I just finished our last book, Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan and could not wait to blog about it! This was by far my favorite book we have read for class. I don’t even know where to begin!! My initial reactions deal with a longing for this sort of acceptance towards gays in real life high schools! Just the other day I read about a fifteen year old who was murdered by his classmates because he was gay. I wonder if that would have happened if students in that school would have had opportunities to read books such as Boy Meets Boy and other gay resources. Perhaps then, they would have better understood this student and been more likely to accept his natural lifestyle.

I also liked this book because it illustrated so many diverse personalities and backgrounds. First there was the manipulated girlfriend (Joni) who gives up her life and friends for her boyfriend. Then there was the confused boy, Kyle, who was torn between liking either boys or girls. There was also the closet gay boy Tony, with the extremely religious and strict parents! Noah took the part of a heartbroken newbie to town with a shaky past. Levithan even included a drag queen football star that doubled as the dramatic homecoming queen! She was definitely one of my favorite characters. However, what was most satisfying was the main character Paul, who was completely comfortable with his sexuality. What was even better was the reception he was given by both his family and his peers. Everyone in the book seems completely comfortable with his sexuality, even his older straight brother. This warm-welcome was so refreshing when compared to the hostile reception towards gays in real life!

One aspect of the novel I found somewhat surprising was the amount of rather detailed intimacy by the main characters. At times the story revealed Paul’s intimate desires to kiss his new love Noah or his ex Kyle. When I explained this to my friends, they were shocked to discover this was in fact a book for my Children’s Literature class. Obviously, this is a book for a more mature audience of young teens. However, I believe this intimacy was necessary to the goals of the book. I believe in a way the author was trying to portray the normalcy of Paul’s life as an openly gay teenager. Through his novel, Levithan shows readers that no matter what a person’s sexuality is, he or she is still human and have the same problems and feeling as everyone else. It was also very unique that Paul was portrayed as someone with such an excellent sense of self. Even in kindergarten Paul knew he was gay and he was always completely okay with this characteristic. I image this is not the case with most homosexuals in modern day America. None of the characters in this book judged others based on their sexuality. Again this book has pleasantly surprised me!

Overall, I am very excited to write my paper on this topic AND hear what everyone else has to say about Boy Meets Boy in class on Wednesday!