Boy Meets Boy

The sembreak was short and sweet, but I managed to finish two books. One of them is Boy Meets Boy. I meant to read it as a little experiment; I've always limited my reading preferences to fantasy books (Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin...okay, I'll stop talking now) or contemporary classics (which is really just a label for books neither I nor anyone can't quite group under a specific category). I figured this time, I should venture into gay teen fiction literature. So venture I did.

I searched high and low for gay teen fiction books and found that there are actually quite a lot of them. Sadly, not a lot of them can be downloaded as ebooks... which I know doesn't do the authors or the publishers justice but hey, I'm a poor law student solely dependent on his parents. Blah.

After two days, I can't help but conclude that this book, simple as its plot is, is easily one of my favorites. It's not so much what the plot contains but the mere fact that I took time to read it that makes this book so important to me.

As the title suggests, the story is about a boy meeting a boy. In a bookstore. The story gets a bit complicated when shortly after, it's revealed that Paul, the protagonist, has leftover feelings from his previous relationship with Kyle. His bestfriend, Joni, also becomes a pain in the ass when she starts dating some boy Paul hates. There's also Tony, a Catholic school boy, whose parents can't quite accept the fact that he's gay...ehem. Really, there's nothing more to it than that.

But there's something about Paul's life that I envy. At the risk of being a spoiler, I'm going to say very little of it. The utopian world Paul lives in and how he never takes serious flak for being gay might exist for real in this world, I suppose, but it doesn't exist in mine. Is it the world I want to live in? I'm not entirely sure. But will it macertainly ke things easier? Certainly.

I can sympathize with how Tony is feeling (very few would probably be able to relate, but I'll go ahead and say it anyway)--that I'd have to live with the circumstances. For the moment. And by moment, I mean roughly four to five years (perhaps even longer) until I become lawyer and be truly independent. Contrary to what other people might say, it takes a lot of courage to shut up, move forward, and withstand the pain in a sometimes unforgiving environment.

In the end, all I felt is happiness for the characters in the book and melancholy for myself. For them, life stops at their happy endings...unless the author writes a sequel, I guess. As for me, I go on, study like crazy, and open myself up to a world of possibilities that is gay teen fiction.

Any suggestions?

PS. By the way, I have an ebook copy of the book. If you want one, feel free to email me at arwindvera@yahoo.com. :)