Two Boys Kissing Hardcover – August 27, 2013

“The first sentence of the truth is always the hardest. Each of us had a first sentence, and most of us found the strength to say it out loud to someone who deserved to hear it. What we hoped, and what we found, was that the second sentence of the truth is always easier than the first, and the third sentence is even easier than that. Suddenly you are speaking the truth in paragraphs, in pages. The fear, the nervousness, is still there, but it is joined by a new confidence. All along, you've used the first sentence as a lock. But now you find that it's the key.”Every now and then I read a book that I just know will stick with me forever. When I find one of these special books, I want every person I know – and even ones I don't – to read it. That was definitely the case with Two Boys Kissing. This book was truly something special and I can't recommend it highly enough.“If you let the world in, you open yourself up to the world. Even if the world doesn't know that you're there.”I read the audiobook version, which I was pleasantly surprised to find was narrated by the author himself. The book itself was powerful, but having the author read his own words made it that much more so. There's something about listening to an author reading their own words and realizing how much of themselves they put into the characters and the story, that made this one even more powerful and special then it would have been with a different narrator. You could hear his passion for the story in each word he spoke. And those words? They were beautiful and honest. The only drawback of reading this one in audiobook format is that there's no way to highlight the beautiful passages... and there were a lot of them. Had I read this in eBook format, I'd have highlighted half the book. I had to go seek out quotes on Goodreads.“...he hopes that maybe it'll make people a little less scared of two boys kissing than they were before, and a little more welcoming to the idea that all people are, in fact, born equal, no matter who they kiss or screw, no matter what dreams they have or love they give.”Two Boys Kissing is inspired by a true story. Many of them, actually. While it's true the book mostly centers around Harry and Craig's endeavor to break the Guinness World Record for the longest kiss, there are several other characters whose stories are every bit as important to this book. Harry and Craig's bold gesture has a huge impact on these other characters who are attempting to navigate tricky situations on their own.“Love is so painful, how could you ever wish it on anybody? And love is so essential, how could you ever stand in its way?”This book was gorgeous and thought-provoking. I know it will stick with me for a very, very long time. It moved me to tears, made me appreciate the struggle of my gay friends, and most of all, made me realize that while progress has undeniably been made, there's still so much more left to achieve. I've recently read that some parents are petitioning schools to remove this book from their libraries. Now, I'm not going to get on my soapbox on this, but all I can say is that I hope that while the parents aren't open-minded enough to give this book a shot, that the school officials will take a few hours and read this beautiful, powerful book and realize taking it out of libraries would do more harm than good, by far.“You can give words, but you can't take them. And when words are given, that is when they are shared. We remember what that was like. Words so real they were almost tangible. There are conversations you remember, for certain. But more than that, there is the sensation of conversation. You will remember that, even when the precise words begin to blur.”I wasn't sure how the Greek Chorus of gay men would work in this book. It took a little bit of time for me to fully embrace it, but it wasn't long before it became one of my favorite things about this book. Their voices were so honest and it was incredibly moving listening to their thoughts on the events taking place in current day, as compared to their struggles. I got entirely wrapped up in each individual character's story, though I don't think any moved me more than Cooper's. His voice – and the rest of the voices – were so authentic and believable. I've listened to friends talk about some of the same struggles and I think that's what made this book so personal to me."We know that some of you are still scared. We know that some of you are still silent. Just because it's better now doesn't mean that it's always good.”There's not one thing I would change about this book, except to maybe make it longer. The world needs more books like this, more writers like David Levithan. This was an emotional and hopeful read. We've come a long way, but there's still so much further to come.“We do not start as dust. We do not end as dust. We make more than dust. That's all we ask of you. Make more than dust.”

REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT DEAR AUTHOR. I PURCHASED THE BOOK MYSELF.Dear David Levithan,In the author's note at the end of this novel you say the following:"On September 18, 2010, college students Matty Daley and Bobby Canciello kissed for thirty-two hours, thirty minutes, and forty-seven seconds (longer than the characters in this book) to break the Guinness World Record for longest continuous kiss. I am just one of many people who were inspired by what they did".The story was inspired by what they did."This was an unusual book. The narration in this book is by a chorus of gay men who died from AIDS watching the gay teenagers of today's generation. They worry about these kids, they reminisce about their own past and their best and worst moments, and they hope that these kids, these teens will pull through and have better lives.The main focus of this book is a record-breaking kiss that high school students Harry and Craig are planning which serves as a spotlight for several other couples; one is just starting a relationship and one may be on the verge of the possible break up. And there is also more somber storyline about a teenager who is on the verge of possible suicideThis is definitely a book with a message, a very loud and very unapologetic message. One reviewer at Amazon basically called this book preachy, but added that because this is a message she supports, she did not care. I am pretty much in agreement with her, but at the same time I am not sure if the word "preachy" is the right one for me. It does have a message, a very simple, obvious one - that every gay kid, gay teen and gay man is deserving of love - and this is a message that I of course also support. But the book also tells a story, so I am conflicted about the word "preachy". It moralizes for sure, but in such beautiful and moving language that I really loved it.The story also made me choke up several times, but here reader reactions may differ. This is a book where I highly recommend getting a sample first. I am saying this as a reader who does not read many samples, but if the style does not work for you, you may have more of an issue more than with other plottier books. Here are some examples for you which in my opinions are very indicative of the tone in the book."So many of us had to make our own families. So many of us had to pretend when we were home. So many of us had to leave. But every single of us wishes we hadn't have to. Every single one of us wishes our family had acted like our family, that even when we found a new family, we hadn't have to leave the other one behind. Every single one of us would have loved to be loved unconditionally by our parents.Don't make him leave you, we want to tell Mrs. Kim. He doesn't want to leave you""Eventually Harry will leave Craig curled on the couch. He will tuck Graig in, then tiptoe back to his own room. They will be in a separate places, but they will have very similar dreams.We miss the sensation of being tucked in, just as we miss the sensation of being that hovering angel, pulling the blanket over his shoulders, wishing him a sweet night. Those are the beds we want to remember."There is really not much that happens, plotwise and most of the characters while sympathetic and likeable, are not very fleshed out. But I do not think this was the point of the book. Was the point to portray a connection between the generations , using both the similarities and differences and to issue a cry out that everybody deserves of love and that every boy or man deserves to live his life as he was destined to and not to feel such hopeless despair as to want to end his life?I cannot be sure, but as I said, while the message of this book was pretty obvious, it worked for me.I think if the author wanted to write the love story of any of the couples in this book in more details, I would buy that book in a heart-beat. I especially would have loved to see where the story of Ryan and Avery would take them. Avery was a transgender gay teen, and I appreciated the author including the transgender character in the book. He just seemed like a character with such an awesome potential and he had great chemistry with Ryan. That was another amazing thing about this book - all the couples showed great chemistry which I do not see that often in the many m/m romances I have read.I guess I also have to admit that I felt a little uncomfortable because even though the author insists in the note at the end that the characters are not similar to the boys who beat the kissing record in real life, he also talks about talking to one of the boys about what it was like during the time of their kiss and I started to wonder just how much fiction and reality was mixed up together in this one. Of course writers are always inspired by real life events and people, but I think to a certain degree this fictional book read like a non-fiction to me.Grade B.~Sirius

I can't fault the deftness with which David Levithan realises his characters in this well-meaning and meaningful exercise in bridging the gap between two generations of [young] gay men. Like the author himself, I am of that fleeting intermediate generation defined by having been spared the worst of the AIDS crisis but old enough to know what being gay was like before the Internet age, so I recognise the value of, and Levithan's reasons for, holding the two up as both mirrors and windows to one another. That said, the Greek chorus approach to the narration - with the ghosts of that ravaged generation watching and commenting on the lives of today's gay youth - treads a fine line between poignant and portentous and doesn't always stay on the right side for me. It is, nevertheless, an important novel for reflecting all the facets of [young] love, identity and sexuality and, not only but in this case at least in a gay context, how they not only affect those directly experiencing them but their friends, family, acquaintances and the world at large. And for all the emphasis on what has been and what is and what might be suffered, it is at its heart a very positive story whose message is: embrace life.

I found this book such a moving read that I was thinking about it in the moments when I wasn’t reading. Two young men decide to try to break the world record for the longest kiss – over thirty-six hours. They had been a couple but broke up about a year before this marathon. We also follow other young people from the local community and see the effect this event, which goes global through the internet, has upon the two involved and others who witness it. This includes the parents of the boys, some of whom are accepting but others not. It’s hard not to feel the pain of a boy who is rejected or blanked by the parents he loves.The story is narrated by the global consciousness of the generation who lost their lives to AIDS and we hear the wisdom they would like to impart to the younger people who have different problems, but never have to watch their loved one die a dreadful death. The writing is lyrical and deceptively simple. I found that it expressed some complex ideas in a few words by careful juxtaposition of phrases. It was sad, exciting, uplifting and beautiful. Reading this is an experience I wouldn’t have missed for the world.

It's a great title. A title that's happily out of the closet. If you, as a young adult, can carry this novel conspicuously around with you at school or on campus, you're out too, and proud of it. Two boys kissing is a political act, an in-your-face gesture to the bigots and homophobes, some of whom make their ugly appearance in this warm and lucid story. It's the kind of book you should be able to pass on to your parents, friends, relations, teachers even, and say READ IT: it appeals to all ages, not just to a YA readership.If the central event of the book - two boys kissing non-stop in public for thirty hours or so - hadn't been based on a real-life event, I'd not have believed it was possible, and I'm still wondering. It was a brilliant idea of the author to take that event and unfold his novel around it. Although the two boys, Craig and Harry - ex-boyfriends but still in love with each other - are the obvious heroes of the book, the novel is in fact an ensemble piece, in which a number of other young gay guys are followed during its thirty hour time frame. There's Peter and Neil, together for a year, comfortable with their relationship but perhaps sensing that it will never be entirely complete. There's Avery and Ryan, two guys who stand out from the crowd, and not just for the colour of their hair (pink and blue), meeting for the first time that night and knowing that each is THE ONE. There's Tariq, recovering from a homophobic assault, who films the kiss-in and makes sure it goes viral. And then there's Cooper, damaged by his homophobic parents, by pornography, by cruising, alone, unable to connect, who looks as if he's heading for disaster. We move from one to another like scenes in a film, the storylines separate but occasionally touching each other. As the countdown gets closer, the tension tightens; those two pairs of lips stick doggedly together, despite the pain and discomfort. The crowds, the social media reactions, the TV pictures, the radio waves, build - it becomes an international event.Another brilliant idea was to have the events narrated by a group of ghosts. They stand invisibly to one side, describing and commenting on what they see, rather like a Greek chorus. They are the ghosts of the AIDs generation, the guys from the '70s and '80 who did not survive the disease, who fought so hard for the freedoms the present generation take for granted. They bring pathos, the long view, the historical context; they advise and comment from a position of wisdom. What they see acting out over that thirty hours is their legacy. It's a bold device, and it works beautifully.This is not just a brilliant read, it's an important book, a real milestone in literature for gay people - and for everyone else who cheer or boo alongside them. Not to be missed.

I hadn't read the reviews ahead of reading this book, and I am glad that I didn't. It's a well written story, even profound. The story of the two boys aiming to beat the world record for kissing is the thread that ties other stories together. The added perspective of the voice of the dead gay community gives added poignancy - like them, we are powerless to intervene in the events that unfold. I'd definitely recommend this book.

This is a book that I have just finished and it grabbed me so much that I finished it in two sittings.The narrative genuinely rushes along just like a fast beating heart - poignant reflections on young lives from people who died during the 80s AIDS tragedy. The language and structure is almost poetic."Two Boys Kissing" is not just about the kiss (which is an attempt to break the world record for the longest lasting kiss) - it's really all about people learning lessons. It is narrated by people who have died from AIDS and are commenting on the acceptance (or otherwise) and the choices made by three gay, young couples.Whilst I love reading, I rarely come across a book that grabs me emotionally from the start and keeps that up for the entire book (in this case 238 pages). It covers some very dark issues but comes out brilliantly optimistic.