Boy Meets Boy

I enjoyed this book a lot as it initially reminded me of Francesca Lia Block, whom I love. The characters were inspiring and very relatable, i thought. I liked that Paul was the central character whom all other characters stories were shared through. I also liked the focus on the adolescent issues often construed as "cliche" (relationship woes, friendships, even fashion). Juxtaposing the normalcy of these issues with the surrealism of the setting and of the general attitudes/ideas of the characters was clever and a good move on Levithan's part. I myself was big into memoires in high school and i think i would have really enjoyed reading this as a teenager.

When considering teaching this book my first questions were what kind of unit it would fit into and what kind of themes to draw from and teach. I wasn't really sure at first, the literary merit seemed somewhat pale in comparison to the entertainment value. However, I do think this book would be great on a coming of age unit, a stereotypes in literature and life unit, or when when teaching the qualities of magical realism and stream of consciousness. I would consider teaching this book in conjunction with Block's Weetzie Bat (which touches on similar teenage issues and LBGT issues but with slightly darker undertones) or even Romeo and Juliet. My only real criticism of this book it actually seems a little too innocent to me; i recall couples doing a lot more than kissing when I was in high school, but thats just my own experience. I do think the innocence is a plus when placed in the context of using it in defense of teaching this book.