Two Boys Kissing (196 Pages)

David Levithan has written a YA book that focuses on several boys. It is not just about two boys kissing. It is about loyalty, it is about acceptance, it is about rejection, it is about bullying, it is about goal setting, it is about a person's future, it is about love,it is about endurance, it is about true friendship. Harry and Craig once were a couple, but they no longer are. However, they want to set a record for the longest kiss. They are helped by friends, teachers, and some family. Why set this record? To make a statement that  there is nothing wrong with what they are doing. To accomplish this, they choose a special setting of the front of the high school. A friend assists by setting up recording equipment and lights. Another friend is there to help without touching them (that's one of the rules) they must keep their lips touching the entire time and no one may touch them. Their goal is to accomplish this in thirty-two hours, twelve minutes, ten seconds. During "the kiss" they can not go to the bathroom, they can not talk, they can not do anything that separates their lips. One of the most interesting things about the book is that it is told in the first person plural. Those men who died during the height of the AIDS pandemic "speak" to the reader and speak to all of the other characters in the book. What they have to say are incredible lessons about living, even if they can't be heard or seen. The book holds invaluable words of wisdom, without being preachy! It is a winner- in every sense of the word.