Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Friday, March 12th, 2010
John Green and David Levithan, April 2010. This excellent novel is written by Green and Levithan in alternating chapters, each writing from the POV of a different kid named Will Grayson living in the Chicago suburbs. Will #1 is the kind of kid who tries to stay under the radar. This strategy is both aided and harmed by his friendship with the gay-gay-gay, fat-fat-fat Tiny Cooper. Will #1 is trying to decide whether he likes super-indie-girl Jane or not. Will #2, who runs into #1 in a porn store neither of them planned to enter, is a gay kid in an online relationship that he later discovers is a fake, and he falls pretty hard for Tiny.
Levithan is one of my favorite authors ever ever ever, and Green is excellent as well. The dialogue is crisp, the characters are creative and real and awesome - even Tiny, and it’s pretty hard to write an original superfag character who loves musicals (it helps that he hates “Over the Rainbow”). The voices Levithan and Green choose for the two Will Graysons aren’t as divergent as I would have liked, so I sometimes got them a little confused, but that is a minor quibble. Highly recommended for all public and high-school libraries.