Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Published: September 2003
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Summary: This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance. 
When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he's found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul's not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.
This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.

My Review: This book is set in a time and place where lesbians and gays are accepted and embraced by everyone (well, almost everyone). And when I say accepted, I mean the teenagers can walk through the school hand in hand with their partner, there peers call them names like "gay boy" and it's totally okay, and no one is truly offended by it. There is even a drag queen as the star quarterback AND homecoming queen! Ideally, I believe that this should be okay, and that gays and lesbians should be accepted by everyone and be allowed to walk hand in hand without ridicule and bullying, but this book went a little over the top I think. It was a quick and easy read, funny and altogether entertaining. The characters didn't have much in character development but for this novel it seemed to work alright. 

I think that a lot of teens (gay or straight) would be able to relate to the book in one way or another - sneaking out saying you're doing homework when there isn't much or any homework getting done. Seeing your ex walk by and remembering what you once had. Having that one friend who is right to the point, no matter what the point may be. We've all been there, and it's good to read a book and know that even the characters in them are just like us.

Overall, Boy Meets Boy was an alright book. I'm not going to tell you to rush out and read it, but if you stumble across it, it wont hurt to give it a try. You'll see that no matter the relationship (gay or straight) we all have trouble sometimes, "I wonder if it's possible to start a new relationship without hurting someone else. I wonder if it's possible to have happiness without it being at someone else's expense." (Boy Meets Boy, page 59)