Boy Meets Boy – David Levithan

[I’m not going to spoil the book, just give you a rough idea. Vaguely done descriptions will be done so the ending is not given away]

I gotta say, I don’t know what attracted me to this book. In the heat of exams, I hate to read anything other than study aids, but my parents refused to let me leave the library without a book. The cover was nothing special, this version is a plain blue hardback, the title is written on three candy hearts, one for each word, tiny in size. The only other things are the authors name and the tag line “Love meets love, confusion meets clarity” in plain white.

The story is written in the view point of Paul; a gay guy at high school, it revolves around him and his feelings towards others in a believable meets surreal type of way. But I believe it is amazingly written. At one point I felt like screaming at Noah [see below] and chasing after Paul with some form of carving knife.


Characters:

Paul: He’s the hardest to describe. All that is clear is that he’s yearning for love and comfort, which he loses, among both friends and loves. Like the tagline suggests, he’s confused about what he wants yet is so clear about it. I feel like I’m missing a lot, yet also feel I’ve hit the nail on the head…

Joni: Paul’s best female friend, she’s strong minded and opinionated and compromises well with him, until she gets a boyfriend that controls her, something which she refuses to admit, instead she lashes out at those who love and care. You want to scream at her for being stupid, yet understand why you shouldn’t.

Tony: Also gay. His religious parents know of their son’s sexuality and try and divert him against it. There is nothing going on between him and Paul.

Kyle: Paul’s ex, who claimed to be gay, then straight. He doesn’t know what he wants, at first, it is obvious he plays a major role to the main plotline.

Infinite Darlene: “Homecoming Queen And Star Quarterback”. The description in the blurb works wonders. He is a transvestite, who asks to be known as Infinite Darlene although it’s not stated why

Noah: The new kid who steals Paul’s heart and has his heart stolen in return. He changes everything. Known as artistic, we see a creative and passionate mind, yet also a tortured soul where pain is visible.

Basic Plot Line
As previously mentioned, it revolves around Paul’s life. At a friend’s gig, he falls for Noah; a artistic older guy who haunts his thoughts; it’s love, until conflict strikes, involving Kyle. Tony is trying to get away from the grip of his homophobic religious parents, while Joni is happy in love, apparently. Infinite Darlene has no main plot, yet she seems to stalk Paul’s.

Why I’d Recommend It:
This is one of my new favourite books, but I can’t say why. It makes me think about my own life. Sometimes, I feel so close to the book, other times I feel so distant. Just for the amount of emotion it starts inside of you, it’s worth reading.

Thanks For Reading.x
Posted on June 2nd, 2007 at 02:01pm

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