Harry and Craig kiss for 32 hours straight while live in order to promote positive for the LGBTQ community in particular the gay community as others are struggling in the same city.
General Information:
- Hardcover: 208 pages
- Price: $11.77
- Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (August 27, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307931900
- ISBN-13: 978-0307931900
Plot:
Two Boys Kissing is a story of many teenage boys and one transgendered boy (female to male) and how their lives are intertwined with Harry and Craig who are setting a record by publicly kissing for 32 hours straight. This book takes place in a world where being a part of the LGBTQ community is frowned upon by society, and as such causes different levels of turmoil within the boys lives. Some like Cooper can’t handle the inane pressure put upon him by society and tries to drink and sleep around before an attempted suicide. Others such as Harry and Craig try to bring light to the issue by publicly kissing for 32 hours but not before Craig has his family torn from him due to their unwillingness to accept that he is gay and be okay with it. Others such as Avery and Ryan face public harassment and ridicule from their peers. Tariq tries to hide it and ends up being publicly assaulted to the point that they break his ribs. All of this happens and they are all trying to understand what it means to be gay and how to live their lives in a world that shuns them, while Harry and Craig are publicly defying society with their public 32 hour long kiss.
Reading and Interest Level:
The reading and interest level for this book is marketed for grades 7-9 and ages 12 – 14. After reading this book I agree that grade 7 or 12 years of age is probably an appropriate age to start reading this title though its interest level should go through 12th grade even if the reading level may not be that tough. This is purely based off of the message and themes within the story.
Evaluation:
Two Boys Kissing is an interestingly written book that creates multiple storylines that are happening simultaneously within the book without ever truly being directly in contact. This is what makes it such an effective read in my opinion. This book is about the LGBTQ community specifically the gay community (amongst men) and the transgendered community (Avery). It treats the community as a collective and highlights all of the different responses everyone gets, and how each person tries to deal with those responses. Some get shunned by their peers, others by their families, some get accepted for who they are by the ones closest to them but society is still won’t accept them, etc. By showing all of these angles this book is a valuable read for the whole community to not only read about someone similar as yourself but also to show how others in the community may be being treated or how they may be feeling.
Bibliotherapeutic Value:
The bibliotherapeutic value of Two Boys Kissing stems from the effectiveness of the book that I previously mentioned. The book provides a safe look into the world of gay teenage boys/transgender teenagers and can be an invaluable tool in relating these real life situations to a character within the book. There are many examples within the book, one being Craig. Craig’s parents find out about his online chats and his father is enraged, yelling and screaming obscenities before hitting him. This book shows teenage boys one way of handling it. Peter and Neil who are another couple within the book have a different dynamic being shown. Peter and his family are well aware and accepting of his sexual orientation and extend that acceptance to Neil. Neil’s family are aware but they shy away from that fact as much as possible allowing the hatred from society rumble around them without even acknowledging it. Neil unlike others in the book confronts his family and he explains that he knows that they know, and they don’t yell obscenities and hit him like Craig’s father did to him but they don’t acknowledge it like Peter’s family. Eventually his sister and his father verbally acknowledge that he is gay and Peter is his boyfriend and that makes all the difference to him. These examples are all within one book and it is a great way for teenage boys in this community to see all the different possible avenues that can happen with belonging to this community, but also on how to deal with each of them. I think one of the most critical storylines is Cooper’s as he is the boy who tries to commit suicide at the end of the book before he is stopped by a police officer. The book plainly explains all of the young boys who were not stopped and did hang themselves, or jump from a bridge, or overdose on pills, and that the community tries to save each one but it generally is impossible. Though if one person can be saved it will not bring the others back but it will be a victory nonetheless for the community and this book is looking to make sure that other boys in the community do not follow down Cooper’s path thinking that they are alone. Overall the bibliotherapeutic value in this book is extremely high.
.Issues Present:
The issues present in Two Boys Kissing revolve around the fact that it is filled with LGBTQ material mainly gay relationships (though some transgender references: Avery). Though when one sees Two Boys Kissing being challenged they generally see complaints about the language, sexual references, and underage drinking within the book. Finally, some have argued that the book promotes suicide as an answer to being a part of the LGBTQ community. All of these are generally tied into the challenges along with the idea that the book is spreading unholy ideas in the eyes of most religions. For these reasons the book is considered controversial and is repeatedly challenged.
Defending the Title:
The defense of Two Boys Kissing staying on YA shelves is relatively simple in nature. For the most part a lot of challenges stem from the fact that the book is about the LGBTQ community and as such is religously unacceptable and socially unacceptable. This may be the view of certain individuals and maybe even communities but according to the Library Bill of Rights in ALA an individual cannot censor material based off of personal reasons and or beliefs. Secondly, the book does have a lot of language and their are random cases of violence and underage drinking within the book, however nothing is graphically shown. The underage drinking happens once in the book by Cooper and is a relatively common problem within our society. The violence shown involves some punches and verbal abuse but the worst of it is described when Tariq gets jumped. They describe him having a bloody mouth and broken ribs but that is all which is a lot more mild than most teens see on a daily basis in shows, movies, and video games. As for the idea that the book promotes suicide as a possible answer to being a part of the LGBTQ community makes one question if the person ready the entire book. There is a whole section of the book being dedicated to the fact that the LGBTQ community would love to catch every child and teen who gets consumed by the concept of suicide. Unfortunately many go through with it before it is too late, but this book in no way endorses that as a legitimate possibility.
Book Talk Idea:
If I was running a book talk for the book Two Boys Kissing I would focus on the individual hardships each character faces throughout the book and explain its importance in context to real life and how this book handles each situation. I believe this would stimulate a lot of conversation from both people in and out of the LGBTQ community and allow for a great back and forth debate on ideas and where everyone is coming from.
Some pages that contain the conflict that I would talk about include but are not limited to: 57, 89, 100, 127, 130, 143, 165, 190
Genre:
The genre of this book is Teen Fiction/Romance with subject matter covering LGBTQ, Social Themes, Feelings, and Gay Romance. It follows the lives of multiple gay boys and one FTM Transgender boy during a 32 hour long publically streamed kiss by Harry and Craig.
Similar Reads:
Author’s Website:
Awards Won:
Stonewall Book Awards Winners and Honors 2012 (And Ongoing)
Capital Choices Book Awards 2013 (And Ongoing)
Nevada Young Reader Award Nominees Grade Young Adult 2004-05 (And Ongoing)
Library Journal Best Books 1997 (And Ongoing)
YALSA Best Fiction For Young Adults 2014 (And Ongoing)
Professional Reviews:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-levithan/two-boys-kissing-levithan/
https://www.teenreads.com/reviews/two-boys-kissing
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-307-93190-0
Why I chose to read this book?
I chose this book purely off of the reviews on the back of the book that indicated how uplifting and cheerful this book was. I really wanted to read a controversial book without the doom and gloom that many may seem to have. Once I started reading it I enjoyed the multiple perspectives of the different teens who all belong to this community but each have their own difficulties and how they handle these difficulties. The multiple perspective writing was reminiscent of a mixture of GRR Martin and Ellen Hopkins but not the their extremes which was enjoyable. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an uplifting tale that may be a bit controversial in nature.
Librarianship 