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Jessy Torrance
, November 09, 2018
(view all comments by Jessy Torrance)
David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing was one of the first books that I’ve read that was unapologetically gay. Revolving around real events that happened – and have been given a fictional treatment – Levithan focuses on the past, present, and future for gay boys. The story is beautifully told by a chorus of ancestors for the gay community, the men who came before the story, and they give their take on things. Heartbreaking, emotional, and full of hope, Two Boys Kissing paints a real picture of what it means to be gay: the terror of falling in love, the violence faced in daily life, the emotional struggles, mental illnesses, hopelessness, and more.
“Waking is hard, and waking is glorious. We watch as you stir, then as you stumble out of your beds. We know that gratitude is the last thing on your mind. But you should be grateful.
You’ve made it to another day,” (Levithan 22).
What I didn’t expect when I first opened Two Boys Kissing was the deep gratitude and hope I walked away with. I found myself thanking those who fought the struggle before me, and I happily accepted the burden to fight for the generations after me. Even if you don’t identify as a gay man (or LGBT+), there’s plenty to gain from reading this book. Readers will be met with the struggles of being who you are in a world that would rather you didn’t, and how sometimes just the act of kissing someone – and trying to break a world record while doing so – is an act of bravery, protest, and activism.
Two Boys Kissing reminds every reader of what it means to be human, to struggle, and to fight for others.
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