The Stuff:
This young adult novel follows the fortunes of several gay boys and young men. A Greek chorus of gay men who died during the AIDS crisis serves as the narrator. They cannot interact with the living. Peter and Neill are a couple still in high school who have been dating for a while. Avery and Ryan meet at a gay prom (the Greek chorus looks on, delighted that such a thing is possible these days). They’re just finding out about each other. Tariq recalls a time he was beaten up outside a theater—not for being black. His assailants called him a “faggot.” There were even black guys among them. He wonders—what did he do wrong? Cooper stays up late, cruising sex/dating sites and chatting with older men. He had not yet met any of them.
And then there are Craig and Henry. They are no longer going out, but they’ve remained friends. They decided to try to break the Guinness Book of World Records record for the longest kiss—something more than thirty hours. Craig wanted to protest after he saw Tariq in the hospital, but he didn’t know how. Breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for kissing another boy is his way.
Thoughts:
In his author’s notes, author David Levithan writes about two college students, Matty Daley and Bobby Canciello, who kissed for thirty-two hours, thirty minutes, and forty-seven seconds in September 2010 to break the Guinness World Record. He admits the characters are not based on Daley and Canciello but were inspired by them. He further thanks Daley for telling him what it was like.
It comes as little surprise that this book, aimed at young audiences and dealing with LGBT+ themes, has been challenged and banned. According to the American Library Association (ALA), it was the 18th most frequently banned book between 2010-2019. There is no explicit sex. While there is a lot of kissing, talk of sex, arousal, and a suicide attempt, it is mostly romance. In my cynical heart of hearts, I might say the romance is often idealized, but be that as it may, I can’t imagine there’d be any squawking if the characters were straight.
The device of the ghosts of a past generation as narrator(s) adds poignancy. They don’t all speak as one voice all the time but often speak with “we.” “We” have seen something happen before, but “we” can’t know how it will turn out. They want to help but are powerless to make things easier for the young men they watch. They also realize, to borrow a phrase, that the kids are all right.
The book was shortlisted for the 2013 National Book Award for Young People, nominated for the 2014 Stonewall Book Award for Children’s & Young Adult Literature, and nominated for 2014 for The Inky Awards for Silver Inky.
As far as young people reading a book, my inclination is to let anyone curious enough to read it read it. If you are a parent and don’t want your children reading a particular book, I support your right to do so. You are the mommy or the daddy. However, I don’t believe you have the right to determine whether the kids down the block have access to the same book.
And for the book in question, I can’t imagine myself—were I a parent—forbidding my child (straight or gay) to read it. It is, all said and done, a sweet book.
Title: Two Boys Kissing
Author: David Levithan (b. 1972)
First published: 2013
Length: novel
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
Cool
It sounds like a good book. I’m always thankful that my mother never censored what I read.
Your mother made a good choice. When I was in elementary school, my folks were both teachers. I think they were just happy I was reading—whatever I was reading.