Because it is spring break, this means that I have had a lot more free-time, which means more reading! Since I had absolutely no plans for break, my break has been very relaxing, and productive in the way of reading books I’ve wanted to read for a while. The first book that I finished was Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. A great, quick read. And different than what I have been reading lately.
Boy Meets Boy is about a boy named Paul, who is a sophomore in high school and openly gay. He meets Noah in a book store, and they fall in love. But not everything is easy with their relationship. Paul’s ex-boyfriend is still hanging around, and his best friend Joni is starting to drift away. Can they stay together against the odds? I guess you’ll have to read to find out. 🙂
What I liked most about this book is it’s different than most of the other books with LGBTQ main characters. Usually, the character is struggling with being accepted by their family, friends, peers, etc. and typically, I’m not saying this is true for all books like this, they’re struggling with depression. But this wasn’t the case for Paul. His family completely accepted him the way he was, and he wasn’t made fun of at his school at all. They also accepted him for the way he is. It was definitely a breath of fresh air, but I don’t know if it was entirely realistic. Sure, I think communities like the one in this book exist in the United States, but I think they’re rare. All across the United States, LGBTQ individuals are still struggling with acceptance, and while this is a sad but true reality, I think it’s something that is slowly starting to change. As a matter of fact, the state of Maryland just legalized same-sex marriage (for more information on this, check out this article). This is something that is happening slowly, state by state, but I believe acceptance will eventually become the norm. Especially if books like this continue to be published. We need to reach this point of acceptance because everyone deserves to be treated equally, especially in our country. Books are one way that we can do this.
Okay, I’ve gone off on a tangent a little. The other thing that I really liked about this book was the fact that it was just a simple love story, just like one that you would find between a heterosexual couple in a young adult novel. It didn’t really deviate from that, and Paul and Noah encountered the same problems that a heterosexual couple would encounter. I think making this true makes homosexual couples less mysterious to teens. In my opinion, a lot of teens make fun of LGBTQ individuals because they don’t understand them. The more they understand them, the more likely they will accept them. Again, books can help in this situation. And the fact that more and more books with these kinds of characters are being published is a good sign. Authors are getting this idea out into the minds of teenagers. And I believe this will make for a better future for everyone.
Since this is the topic of my research project, I could probably go on and on about it. So I will stop there, for now. 🙂 Next I will be reading The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Pretty excited about this one! Until then, happy reading!