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BOY MEETS BOY REVIEWS Booklist,
starred review School Library Journal,
starred review The Bulletin, starred
review Levithan’s master stroke, however, lies in the setting, Paul’s fictional, unnamed hometown, for which Paul has great fondness. It’s an interesting place, operating fully within the rules of reality, but it’s a reality that doesn’t quite currently exist. There Infinite Darlene, the transvestite quarterback and Paul’s good friend, is also the homecoming queen; Paul’s kindergarten teacher helpfully notes on his report card that he is “definitely gay” (“and has very good sense of self”); P-FLAG is “as big a draw as the PTA”; and the local Boy Scouts have renamed themselves the “Joy Scouts” after renouncing the national association’s gay-unfriendly policies. Nor is this a single-issue or polemical utopia: the school janitors have made a fortune day-trading and just keep cleaning the school for pleasure; there’s a touching custom in the local cemetery, where each gravestone has a book attached so that people can read the writing of—or write to—the deceased. The offbeat location allows the book to contrast the lot of Tony, Paul’s good friend from the less egalitarian world of the next town over, with that of Paul and his cronies, but it more importantly relieves Paul’s relationship with Noah of political issues and permits the story to revel in being luxuriantly, sparklingly romantic. All the staring into each other’s eyes and civic good fellowship could become somewhat cloying, but the book musters some powerful weapons against saccharinity. Firstly, it’s adroitly witty (“Conversation is not a strong suit,” Paul says of an annoying upperclassman; “in fact, I’m not sure it’s a suit he owns”). Secondly, there are distinct obstacles to bliss: Paul’s friend Tony is increasingly unhappy, Paul’s friend Joni is becoming a doormat girlfriend to a jerky guy, and Paul’s ex-boyfriend Kyle (who unconvincingly decided he was straight and consequently cold-shouldered Paul) is reopening lines of communication—and perhaps more. Since Noah’s still recovering from a previous cheating boyfriend, he’s uneasy about Paul’s close connections, and when gossip starts to fly about Paul’s closeness with Tony (false) and his reacquaintanceship with Kyle (true), it looks like Paul and Noah’s relationship is doomed. It
all gets worked out, of course, and it’s appropriate to this
book that even the problems come as a result of Paul’s affection
for people. The love story actually goes beyond the relationship between
Paul and Noah, since Paul’s devoted to Tony (“More than
anything in this strange life, I want Tony to be happy”), hopeful
for Kyle’s peace, and determined that Joni deserves a better
romantic fate than the one to which she’s currently subjecting
herself. Deborah Stevenson, Editor Somewhere on the eastern coast of the US that's home to Francesca Lia Block's Los Angeles is a town where six-foot-five drag queens play high-school football, kindergarten teachers write comments like "Definitely gay and has a very good sense of self" on student report cards, quiz-bowl teams are as important as football teams, and cheerleaders ride Harleys. Paul and his friends go to high school in this town. Paul meets Noah, falls for him, does something dumb, and loses him. The last half of the story is about Paul working to get Noah back. Paul narrates his own story, and he talks and thinks like teens wish they did, much like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her Scooby squad. Paul learns that love is still scary when boy meets boy even if it's as accepted as mom's apple pie. With wry humor, wickedly quirky and yet real characters, and real situations, this is a must for any library serving teens. Levithan's novel is a lighthearted romp through the complications
of high school relationships. After Paul meets Noah in a bookstore,
Paul knows he is smitten when he refuses to divulge details to Joni
-- his closest female friend since before she assisted his successful
campaign to become "the first openly gay class president in Mrs.
Farquar's third grade class." Paul, comfortable with his sexuality
since labeled "definitely gay" in kindergarten, enjoys another
chaste yet incredibly close friendship with Tony -- who attends another
school, has religious fundamental parents, and struggles with being
gay. Tony and Paul are so in tune that they often complete one another's
homework assignments for fun. With two best firneds, Paul has support
when Kyle, "the only straight boy [he] ever kissed," leaves
and then reenters his life -- complicating Paul's budding relationship
with Noah. |
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