In this special series, we asked writers we admire to share a book they're giving to their friends and family this holiday season. Check back daily to see the books your favorite authors are gifting.÷ ÷ ÷
The book I keep giving away this year is David Levithan's Two Boys Kissing.
Two Boys Kissing is about teenage boys trying to make sense of their lives and relationships. Thinking about gender and sexuality. Coming out. Being out. Talking to their parents and boyfriends and friends. Falling in love. Falling out of love. Kissing and kissing and kissing.
But it's the way these stories are told that makes the book so potent. The narrator is sort of a Greek chorus — a generation of gay men who have died of AIDS. Their perspective on the boys' lives is both eloquent and heartbreaking — and it really resonated with me.
When I was a teenager, I couldn't imagine a world where gay marriage was possible. I didn't even know anyone who was out! When I meet young gay people now, and they're open and confident about themselves and their relationships, it feels like a miracle to me. A miracle I can't put into words.
David Levithan puts it into words beautifully.
Even though Two Boys Kissing is a young adult book, I keep pushing it on people in their 30s and 40s. You have to read this — so that we can talk about it when you're done.