Review Detail

Reader reviewed by LJK

Our hero, Paul, lives in a very unusual town, one that has more in common with the world of Weetzie Bat and Francesca Lia Block than with Sweet Valley. P-FLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) draws as many participants as the PTA, and Paul's friend, the drag queen Infinte Darlene, is both the Homecoming Queen and the quarterback. Paul, however, is just as confused as every other teen age boy when he meets Noah, a seemingly perfect match, just as Paul's confused ex-boyfriend, Kyle, returns to the scene. Add to this a friend closeted by intolerant parents, and another who "breaks up" with Paul because of her boyfriend, and Paul's seemingly easy existence in this tolerant community becomes very challenging indeed.

In Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan has created a town (and a high school) like no other, and in doing so he has written a thoroughly modern romance. Although the book bogs down a little in its opening descriptions of life at Paul's high school (a trivia bowling team? ), once the reader fully enters Paul's world, the novel zips along, never losing its mix of realistic teen problems in a fantastical community.

Ultimately, Boy Meets Boy is a love story, not just for gay teens, but also for fans of the unique world of Francesca Lia Block and for any teens who love the romance genre.