Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Leviathan (YA)
I unabashedly love John Green. I thought Paper Towns was amazing. I also love David Leviathan, at least I love what he writes with Rachel Cohn (Boy Meets Boy is never available at the library). And they work really well together.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson is about two boys named Will Grayson and the coincidences that bring them together, especially their relationship with the amazing Tiny. Tiny is a gigantic football player with an amazing baritone voice and the seeming ability to fall in love with any boy he meets. One Will, has been Tiny’s friend since elementary school, and is too afraid of life to take real risks and admit how he feels about Jane, about life, about his friendship with Tiny. The other Will doesn’t consider anyone he hangs out with his friend, and is in love with Isaac, someone he only knows online. Misunderstandings and cruelty bring the two Will Graysons together on a lonely night in Chicago, and both their lives start to change for the better. This novel is concerned with love (between friends, and romantically) and all the consequences of admitting what you feel. It is also about being different from the “norm” in any number of ways, including coming out as gay, but also being depressed, not having enough money, or being afraid of having visible emotions as a straight boy. My favourite part of the novel was the fact that Tiny decided to write a musical about his life called Tiny Dancer. It is epic to say the least. My least favourite element is that the second Will Grayson does not like to use capital letters and he writes about half of the novel from his perspective. In my heart, only e.e. cummings gets away with that.
