Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

     Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan is the teenage love story of Paul who meets Noah. Paul is blessed in the way that his community and family is more open and accepting than most from my personal experience. Reading this was a nice vacation from my reality where things would play out quite differently.

     It's not easy for all of Paul's gender and sexually diverse friends despite the general community's feelings of equality. Tony comes from a very religious family and is basically on house arrest for his parents' fear the devil will influence Tony's soul in a homosexual manner and bind him to eternal damnation. Unless a girl is involved in an adventure, it's unlikely Tony is going anywhere.

     Infinite Darlene, formerly a Daryl, is a homecoming queen/star quarterback hybrid of a student who can be overly dramatic but acts with the best of intentions from a big heart.

     Joni has been friends with Paul for what seems like "forever" but things go sour when Joni begins dating a guy that Paul (and many others) can hardly stand.

Author David Levithan

     Noah, perspective love interest of Paul's, is the newest addition to the community. He recently moved his easels and photography equipment into a home not far from Paul's. They first meet in a bookstore and things are looking good until Paul's past catches up with him.

     Kyle, Paul's ex, is struggling with his identity and pulls Paul into a situation previously thought laughable at best. Life has a funny way of mending their relationship as friends while simultaneously causing problems between Paul and Noah.

     I think I found this book fascinating because it takes place in an atmosphere of acceptance, love and progressiveness I'm not used to. I dream of a comfortable enough time to hold hands with my husband whenever and wherever or talk freely with my peers about gay relationships and culture without feeling the all-too-familiar marginalization that comes with living in areas such as the one I reside in. I should take a lesson from Tony and his courageous spirit.

You can find Boy Meets Boy at your local library. You can also purchase it on Amazon for your Kindle, as a paperback or audiobook.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

     The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky opened my heart and held it gently from cover to cover as it revealed a unique, touching story I won't soon forget. I put this book down slowly, my heart overwhelmed with euphoria. Though moments were often bittersweet, it was the main character Charlie who made it one of the sweetest, truest stories I've read in a while.

     There's a certain innocence and rawness about Charlie as he tells his own story via letters to a friend neither he nor we, as readers, ever meet. It's a coming-of-age story told honestly from the perspective of a wallflower. "He's a wallflower. You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand."

     Encouraged by his English teacher Bill to participate, Charlie tries at times to "step away from the wall" and "participate" in what he'd normally observe and think about within the cage of his mind. Charlie had no enemies but was a target of bullying because he was "weird" or a "freak." It would seem keeping to yourself and staying quiet isn't any safer than expressing yourself freely in the halls of high school. Luckily for Charlie, he finds a group of friends who are equally strange in their own ways and accept and love him for who he is.

Author Stephen Chbosky

     Perhaps one of our hardest challenges in life is to accept the past for what it was, to blame no one and to move forward without a burden on our shoulders. Forgiveness, understanding and self-esteem. Charlie reminded me that we have to face the ghosts of our past and present. We have to accept things for what they were and are. We have to believe in ourselves and participate. And we have to make the most of every day remembering that we each are special and deserve happiness.

     I feel as though this book will speak to each reader in a different way from a different direction. Personally, I walked away attached to the following quote. It really summed up this novel's significance to me at this point in my life.

"So I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."

     You can find The Perks of Being a Wallflower at your local library. You can also purchase it from Amazon for your Kindle, as hardcover, paperback or audiobook (Audible edition).