and then cringe as we remember the times that we were.Just two short years after the release of his New York Times Bestselling novel, Every Day, which has been adapted into a major motion picture, David Levithan follows up with Two Boys Kissing. This is the book we read about and talk about and pretend that, of course, we would never be like that. This is an award winning book waiting to stand at the podium and collect its awards. No, this is a stunningly brilliant look at the human condition, an aching portrait on the meaning of true love, and a genuine reflection on the concepts of self, perception, identity and more. In the end, there are no real answers as to the how and why of A and this bizarre existence, but that is irrelevant to our story. The question is, although A may be able to take over a person’s body, is it the right thing to do? It is this revelation, and the face of evil that seems to deliver it, that forces A to make some important choices. This path leads to the revelation that A may not be alone and may, in fact, be able to choose to inhabit one body for a long period of time. This is more than just a beautiful love story – and beautiful it truly is – there is also a bit of danger and intrigue as one of the bodies, Nathan, seems to have some recall that something happened and proclaims that he was possessed by the devil. You heart will shatter into a million little pieces, but your head will also hang in shame because we all know that Levithan is speaking tremendous truth.

At no time is this point more poignant then when A wakes up on the morning of their first official date in the body of an obese boy. Our hearts may be willing, but sometimes even the deepest of loves can not get past our social conditioning. That doesn’t mean she didn’t have problems sometimes getting past the packaging, because she sometimes most definitely did – and this is where we learn so much about the human condition. To me, the most beautiful part of this story was the fact that no matter what body A inhabited, Rhiannon could always tell it was him/her walking towards her because the soul was reflected in the eyes. And because this is Levithan, he finds a unique way to get the reader thinking about things like gender identity and sexuality. Drug addicts, abuse victims, religious zealots, vain cheerleaders and obese, awkward boys – A has embodied them all and Levithan finds a unique way here to tell their story and give them voice. A spends time in so many different people that he (or she) had developed a very mature, sophisticated insight into the human condition. And in true Levithan style, it oozes with raw emotional power and, quite simply stated, some beautifully phrased insights. Every Day by David Levithan is a brilliant concept for a book.

Novel by david levithan