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Two Boys Kissing
Author:
Levithan, David
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Class:
Fiction
Age: 14-19
Language: English
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LC: PZ7.L579
Grade: 9-12
Print Run: 10000
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ISBN-13: 9780307931900
LCCN: 2012047089
Imprint: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Random House
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Pub Date: 08/27/2013
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $16.99
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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200 pages ; 22 cm
H 8.56",
W 4.94",
D 0.77",
0.7 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's Insight Catalog: Teen
Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles
Brodart's YA Reads for Adults
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Bibliographies:
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Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 12th ed.
Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 13th ed.
Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 14th ed.
Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 15th ed.
Nevada Young Readers' Award Nominees
Senior High Core Collection, 19th ed.
Senior High Core Collection, 20th ed.
Senior High Core Collection, 21st ed.
Senior High Core Collection, 22nd ed.
Top 250 LGBTQ Books for Teens: Coming Out, Being Out, and the Search for Community
Young Adult Fiction Core Collection, 4th ed.
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Awards:
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BCCB Starred Reviews
Best Fiction for Young Adults
Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
Library Journal Best Books
Margaret A. Edwards Award
Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews
Rainbow Book List
Stonewall Book Award Honorees/Finalists
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Starred Reviews:
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Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Publishers Weekly
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TIPS Subjects:
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Romance
LGBTQ+
Social Sciences/Sociology
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BISAC Subjects: |
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Emotions & Feelings
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / LGBTQ+ / General
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance / General
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LC Subjects:
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Gays, Fiction
Gays, Juvenile fiction
Homosexuality, Fiction
Homosexuality, Juvenile fiction
Love, Fiction
Social change, Fiction
Social change, Juvenile fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
Gay men, Fiction
Homosexuality, Fiction
Love, Fiction
Social change, Fiction
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Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
5
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Points: 8.0
Lexile Level:
780
Reading Counts Level:
4.7
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Points: 14.0
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles | 08/01/2013 |
| Imagine kissing for 32 hours straight. The Greek Chorus that helps tell the based-on-true-events tale of two teenage boys who embarked on a kissing marathon to set a new world record is unlike any Greek Chorus you've ever seen. Its members consist of gay men with AIDS. As the teen boys try to set a record, other teen boys look on and take hope, while the two setting the record consider their feelings toward each other. 208pp. |
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| Starred Reviews: |
| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 09/01/2013 |
| R. Gr. 9 up. The two boys of the title could be Harry and Craig, the former couple, now good friends, who decide to challenge the world record for kiss length in a publicly captured event. But the title could also refer to Peter and Neil, established boyfriends who still must negotiate the occasional obstacle; it could be Avery and Ryan, who meet and fall for each other at the gay prom and who are tentatively embarking on a relationship; it could be Cooper, pressed by his parents' rejection to the brink of suicide and despising his online hookup for actually wanting a relationship with him. It's also an iconic view of young gay men, an emblem of the possibility-and risk-inherent in the act of kissing, and a focus of the narrators, a Greek chorus of ghostly men who died of AIDS just as the cultural closet door was swinging open. As a result, this is both celebratory and elegiac, an Our Town mourning loss of the dead and marveling, longing for, and cheering the possibilities for the living; it's the bittersweet counterpart to Levithan's joyous Boy Meets Boy (BCCB 9/03), foregrounding the painful context that that book utopianly took off the field. While some of that context is undeniably adult centered, the generational focus conveys the cultural lines of descent, the social family, that these teens are heir to in way that identifies them as part of a larger, connected, invested group rather than the isolates they sometimes feel. That's no surprise with Levithan, who's always a tender poet of human connection; in addition to the link between the lost and the present, the book rejoices in the bonds between the living: the friends and family who support Craig and Harry, the sister who pushes Neil's parents to acknowledge who their son is, and even the rejecting parents who embrace a nearly lost Cooper with gratitude and relief. The cast is multicultural, multi-experiential, and queer on various axes (Avery is a transman), offering multiple points of entry for readers seeking identification. There's much to discuss here about identity, about social media, about community-and it would be a particularly stellar choice for a multi-generational LGTBQ-focused book club. DS. 208p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2013. |
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| Publishers Weekly | 06/03/2013 |
| Ages 12-up. It's a different world for teenagers coming of age and coming out now, compared to when Levithan's Boy Meets Boy was published 10 years ago. He speaks directly to this new generation in this novel, which instantly claims its place in the canon of gay literature. As the title suggests, a kiss plays a central part: it takes place on the lawn of a high school where two former boyfriends try to set a world record for the longest kiss. As the title also suggests, this one's for the boys. Although varyingly supportive friends and family are part of the story, Levithan focuses on the gay male community. Craig and Henry, the two participating in the kiss, are no longer dating, throwing an element of uncertainty into an act that's romantic, political, and personal. Neil and Peter have been dating for a year and are beginning to wonder what's next. Avery, "born a boy that the rest of the world saw as a girl," and Ryan are caught up in the dizzying excitement of meeting someone new. And Cooper is rapidly losing himself into a digital oblivion. But as much as this story is about these teenagers, it's also about their forebears. Levithan builds a bridge between today's young gay men and those who have come (and gone) before them through an audacious choice of narrator: the collective generation of gay men lost to AIDS. This chorus of voices holds court on body image ("When we were healthy we were ignorant. We could never be content in our own skin"), family (both biological and found), hookup apps, dancing, the reality of watching loved ones die, and the fleeting preciousness of life. The narrators are positioned as self-described "shadow uncles" and "angel godfathers," but Levithan doesn't canonize them. "The minute you stop talking about individuals and start talking about a group, your judgment has a flaw in it," they observe when negative reactions to the boys' kiss mount as it gains widespread attention. "We made this mistake often enough." There are no chapters; the story moves among the characters' experiences and the narrators' commentary, proceeding ever forward in the way that life does. As Craig and Henry's kiss approaches record-setting territory, and Cooper approaches becoming a statistic, the novel builds into something triumphant. Many will read the final pages with their hearts in their throats. Levithan makes it clear that loving and living are as imperfect as those who practice them, but no less precious for their flaws. A landmark achievement from a writer and editor who has helped create, in literature, a haven for queer youth. Agent: Bill Clegg, William Morris Endeavor. (Aug.). 208p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2013. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| Booklist | 08/01/2013 |
| Grades 9-12. It's impossible to ignore the context of Levithan's latest novel. The timing is perfect--in the age of Dan Savage's It Gets Better (2011) and recent Supreme Court rulings on marraige equality, a book meant for young adults features a real-life gay teen couple kissing on the cover, standing in for the book's two fictional boys, ex-boyfriends hoping to share the world's longest kiss. The story is narrated from the beyond by the "shadow uncles"--gay men of the AIDS generation--who tell millennial gay boys, "We don't want our legacy to be gravitas." These narrators marvel and remark upon Harry and Craig's kiss (a protest of hate crimes committed against a friend), the impact on two other couples at different stages of their relationships, and a hopeless loner in clear emotional danger. Levithan leans intensely into this work, which occasionally reveals the gears grinding the piece into shape, thereby dissipating some of the magic. Still, there's little doubt that this title, with its weight, significance, and literary quality, will find its way into LGBTQ and wider canons. Stock up. Jones, Courtney. 208p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2013. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 05/01/2014 |
| 4. Craig and Harry attempt to break the world record for longest kiss, which, in turn, affects the lives of the people around them. Narrated by a ghostly chorus of past generations of gay men who died of AIDS, Levithan's latest novel weaves together an informed (sometimes melodramatic) perspective on the past with the present-day stories of seven boys constructing their own sexual identities. slh. 201pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2014. |
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| Kirkus Reviews | 07/15/2013 |
| Gay past and gay present collide. Right from the start readers will know something weird is going on with Levithan's latest. The narrator(s) refers to themselves as "us," and readers will soon deduce that it's the Kushner-esque collective voice of a gay generation from decades before, one that was ravaged by AIDS, anger, politics and more. It's through their lens that this story of seven boys from the present is told. The first two--whose activities are imparted in the work's title--are Craig and Harry. They're out to break the world's kissing record (32 hours, 12 minutes and 9 seconds) to protest a hate crime enacted upon their friend. They're not a couple anymore, and Craig still smarts from the breakup. A second pair--Peter and Neil--have been a couple for a while, but that doesn't mean their relationship is perfect. Pink-haired trans Avery and blue-haired Ryan meet at an alternative LGBT prom, and sparks fly. All the while, Cooper, kicked out of his parents' house and obsessed with gay-hookup apps, suffers alone. The story drifts back and forth and among these seven youth under the watchful, occasionally curmudgeonly voice of the past, which weighs down the narrative too much at times. The novel has genuine moments of insight and wisdom, but it feels calculated and lacks the spontaneity that made Levithan's first two novels so magical. Still, fans of his earlier works will appreciate the familiar tone, characters and themes they've come to love over the years. It's well-intentioned and inspiring, but it doesn't push any boundaries. (Fiction. 14 & up). 208pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2013. |
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| School Library Journal | 09/01/2013 |
| Gr 7 Up. Narrated by an often heavy-handed Greek chorus of men who died of AIDS, this novel features the stories of one transgender and several gay teens. It focuses on Harry and Craig, friends and ex-boyfriends who have set out to beat the Guinness World Record for kissing. Harry's parents accept that he is gay and are there as witnesses, while Craig's parents find out that he's gay after his mother is told about their record-breaking attempt. Other characters include Tariq, the victim of a hate crime; boyfriends Neil and Peter; and female-to-male (FTM) transgender teen Avery and his love interest, Ryan. Finally, there is isolated, angry, and disaffected Cooper. He spends his nights trolling sex sites online and runs away from home when confronted by his furious parents. Although Levithan has a tendency toward didacticism, his characters are likable, with some more developed than others. The story will engage readers, both female and male. The author's note discusses the true events that inspired this story. Despite its flaws, this title is recommended based on subject need. Nancy Silverrod, San Francisco Public Library. 200p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2013. |
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9780307931900,dl.it[0].title
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