Considered groundbreaking upon its publication in 2003, Boy Meets Boyis now 10 years old and David Levithan's debut about two teenage boys finding love is still in print and still as heartwarming. The world was different when Boy Meets Boy first appeared and attitudes have changed, but this novel is just as relevant and enjoyable as it was then.Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan
Pages:185
Genre: Contemporary realism (GLBT romance)
Audience: YA (mature middle graders could handle it)
Rating: 3 stars: I'd friend this book on Facebook
Levithan wrote a town surreal but beautiful, where all orientations were accepted for the most part. McDonalds was vegetarian, no one was poor, there were as many openly gay students as straight, the MC (Paul) was accepted by his family and friends and always knew what he wanted. It was all very pleasant, and I'd love real life to be so easy...but it isn't. The problem with this frame is that it's so far from any reality that I couldn't get deeply invested in it.
The character conflicts were mostly drama with barely a crumb of actual issues. I ended up being most interested in Tony, whose parents seemed to be the only ones anywhere who saw a conflict between being gay and being intensely religious. Jodi was also an interesting character, though she never really saw any resolution and her rational for suddenly doing a 180 on her personality were never given. I didn't really get a strong sense of what any character looked like.
Despite the surreal, happy-go lucky quality of this novel, it was a charming read. It was nice to imagine that the world could be like this.
I haven't read this one but loved his Every Day. Great review!
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