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Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.) HTML: 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 heâ??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 Paulâ??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… (more)
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Boy Meets Boy presents a near utopia in that the town is openly friendly to everyone, no matter the nationality or whether gay, lesbian, trans, or straight. One of my favorite characters, Infinite Darlene, a beautiful male-trans-female with flair, is both the quarterback and the prom queens. Prejudice is rare and when it does appear it does so weakly and without much malice, and is often instigated by people new to the town. This is my idea of an ideal society. One in which lifestyle doesn't determine one's worth, but behavior.
It doesn't eliminate sorrow or unhappiness, because human beings still screw up in love, act stupidly to the people they care about most, and in general make mistakes. So there's plenty of room for drama and growth and the joy of personal triumph.
Altogether a lovely book.
I also want to add the audio book from from Full Cast Audio is fantastic. Each character is acted out by a different actor and music is integrated between scenes to help set the mood. Full Cast Audio does a fantastic job and even has an interview at the end with three of the actors, who discuss and compare their own experience of high school life with gay-friendly high school in the book.
I liked it’s positivity. I loved how cheery and happy this book was. Paul’s
Paul’s friend Tony doesn’t quite have the same upbringing as his extremely religious parents aren’t accepting of his lifestyle. However, even they end up being a lot more tolerant towards the end of the book than how they started out.
Joni, Paul & Toni’s friend seems to ditch them when she meets a boy, making them wonder if she’s even their friend anymore.
And then there’s the love triangle between Paul, his ex boyfriend Kyle and his new love interest Noah (who sounds totally cute btw). Kyle is continually trying to get Paul to come back to him. Paul isn’t convinced, even though he still cares very much for Kyle. And Noah, everything seems perfect with Noah until he finds out what Paul has done behind his back… is it too late to fix it?
Whilst I loved this book, I loved the characters also (Infinite Darlene is hilarious!) it’s not exactly realistic. I think it’s a popular lesbian/gay book primarily because it’s a nice book to read if you are gay. It’s positive, no one takes issue with gay people.. you can walk down the street holding your boyfriends hand if you want to, which is perfect escapism from reality. Anything that is still frowned upon in society here, is okay in this book. And that’s why I think it is as popular as it is.
Still, reality aside, the book is highly enjoyable and an easy read as well!
My experience with David Levithan is only as a co-writer with Rachel Cohen. (Some of you might remember that I really enjoyed Nick & Norah, but not so much Naomi & Ely). After reading Boy Meets Boy I have to
The story is quite simple. Boy (Paul) meets boy (Noah) and they dig each other. Boy's ex boyfriend (Kyle) comes into the picture and causes tension between the diggin' boys. Boy and boy separate. Boy and boy finally come back together.
But the writing! The writing is incredible. Levithan truly captures what it is like to be an adolescent and meeting *that* person. Y'know, that person that makes you believe that love at first sight can happen, life is going to change, love is incredible and it will conquer all. He gets that. The simplicity and beauty of these two boys falling for each other, thinking about each other, hesitant and yet very much vulnerable.
Oh and let me not overlook the high school that these kids go to. I mean, the quarterback of the football team is a fashionista. That's right, when s(h)e's not on the field, Infinite Darlene is the queen of the school.
Then you have the side story of Tony (Paul's best friend) who struggles with coming out to very religious parents who pray out loud to God that a nice girl will come his way and change him back. This is the story of Tony finding strength to stand up for who he is and what he knows is right for him.
Finally, it's the story of Joni (Paul's other best friend) who begins dating someone that the group doesn't approve of. Mainly because it's Infinite Darlene's ex.
Do you see the beauty of all of this? The simplicity of normal adolescence with the complexity of awesome writing.
The other first thing I gotta say is, I want to go to this high school!!! There should be a television show about this high school because I would watch the hell out of it!
This book was just
Let's talk about Paul. This kid is really put together. And what I mean is, he comes from a loving home with understanding and fun-loving parents and a pretty cool older brother. They all accept Paul and his friends for who and what they are, no questions asked. Besides typical teenaged angst, Paul is very secure in who he is. He's out, he's dated boys in junior high and high school; he's even had his heart-broken. He's the kid all parents wish their kids could be, without him seeming ridiculously fake. He's a good person with family and friends. He goes to school and does well, he participates in school plays and helps to plan school functions. He's supportive of his friends. And, most important, he makes mistakes.
Then we have Tony who is gay and sort of out, but he has devout Christian parents who pray for his soul and fear that he is headed straight for hell if he doesn't get back on the right path. But the catch is, they truly, truly love their child. They haven't thrown him out or tried to send him to a facility to geared to force him straight. But they do continuously pray for his salvation, they are strict about what activities he can participate in, they (sort of) screen his friends and get super excited whenever a girl is mentioned. Tony is so sad and I just want to hug him and adopt him as my own child. His parents mean well, but they haven't gotten to the point where (good parents) realize that loving your child means letting them be who they are and not who you wish they would be.
There's Joni, who loses her damn mind a few chapters into the book. She becomes the epitome of love making you ditch your family and friends and making you do stupid things. She, in my opinion, is a bad friend, and she gets no redemption from me.
Kyle is Paul's ex who broke up with him when being gay and in a relationship freaked him out. He gets halfway to redemption in my book because (and I can only imagine) having an identity crisis at 15-16 years old is insane and would make you do crazy, stupid things that teenagers often do, and then later regret.
And Noah is the new boy in town who is sweet and artsy and has been hurt before. I just wanted to hug him as well because he has the travelling-for-work-parents. They're never really home and have moved him and his sister around quite a bit. He doesn't even realize what he's looking for when he meets Paul and gets a little freaked-out himself. Only he handles his freak-out much better than Kyle did.
Infinite Darlene. She is a drag queen, the star quarter back, and the homecoming queen. 'Nough said.
There are more characters that I won't get into. But they are all wonderfully written. I feel like we were given a glimpse of who they all are as people and teenagers just struggling to get through high school life. The story is funny and sad and sweet and lovely. All-in-all this is a well-written tale of old love, new love, friendship, betrayal, growth and redemption. While I wish it was longer, the length was perfect. It left me wanting more, but I wasn't left unsatisfied.
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)
Paul has always known that he's gay--in his town, it just isn't a big deal. He's had some good relationships and some bad ones, but when he meets Noah he knows that this
It's nice to see a book with LGBT characters where the biggest danger is a broken heart. It's a straightforward (heh) romance, with no fear of violence or hate crimes. Sure, some bits of Paul's world are a little outlandish, but it's a world that I'm glad to have lived in--even if just for a few hundred pages.
It's refreshing to see a book written for gay youth that isn't brainless or embarrassing. I recommend this book to all of my gay and bisexual friends, even the ones that are well past adolescence. There is an element to this book that makes you feel as though you have regained some of your innocence back, and that is something that anyone, gay or straight, can appreciate.
"we have a compatible randomness"
"as if I know the lyrics to a song called She's All Mouth"
I found myself smiling from ear to ear and squealing when something exciting happened. I would have given anything to attend this high school.
This setting leaves the residents of the town free to live their lives without worrying over weighty identity and safety issues. Paul and his peers rarely fret about their sexualities, but, in typical teenaged fashion, they obsess over their love lives, their friendships, and planning the best school dance possible. Their freedom to be who they are contrasts their dear friend Tony from the next town over. Tony has to hide his gayness from his parents, who fear for his soul whenever they see him with another boy. Tony’s plight reflects what a gay teen may expect when living in a society that judges and disdains his sexuality. But when his world is held up against that of Paul and his friends, the reader may wonder, why all the fuss?
Together, Paul and Tony tactfully begin to introduce Tony’s parents to the reality of his gayness, and demonstrate that with great positivity, proactiveness, and cooperation, anything is possible. That is the message of this excellent book written in first person from Paul’s perspective as he falls in love, is conflicted over his feelings for an ex-boyfriend, wrangles with a difficult best friend, and juggles all this while heading the theme committee for the legendary Dowager’s Dance. Boy Meets Boy is funny, sweet, and romantic, and would be enjoyable for any reader aged 13 and up.
A lovely romance.
Paul's world get complicated when he meets and fancies a new boy at school, his best friend from small starts dating a dreadful guy, his ex starts talking to him
The descriptions of high school life are hilarious, from Infinite Darlene, the drag quarterback, to the Joy Scouts - the town's inclusive version of the Boy Scouts.
But all the fun aside, Paul is a sympathetic character with a gift for description, and I felt for him from the very beginning. I really cared about what happened to him.
There are some beautiful lines - the sense of belonging when hanging out with his friends feels like his a few notes in the middle of a song.
The town the story takes place is almost feels like a fantasy - a place where sexual preferences are pretty much evenly distributed, so no group is a minority. Paul was the school's first openly gay third grade president, and the Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays
group is more influential than the PTA.
I'd give this to anyone looking for a story with well-drawn queer characters, a high school romantic comedy, or a YA book with quirkyness to match the cameos (if not the tone) of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Once again, Full Cast Audio did a wonderful job, the music introducing each chapter set the mood very well, and there was even a very appropriate musical serenade. The voice effects to show characters thoughts was used effectively.
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 charming novel depicts a town as fantastic in its perfection as those in hetero romances; this world, however, is perfectly suited to gay alternative liberal
The perfection falls on the good side of believability; Paul's good friend struggles with his parents' refusal to accept homosexuality. This is truly a fantastic recommendation for any reader who likes a good love story, middle school or older (the romance is chaste enough for a 13-year-old).