will grayson, will grayson by John Green & David Levithan (Dutton, $17.99) ages 14 and up.
Will Grayson lives in Chicago with his doctor parents, and has been best friends with the larger than life Tiny Cooper since fifth grade. He's always known Tiny is gay. Does the bear shit in the woods? Tiny is his orbit, but lately Tiny's pre-occupation with his epic production of "Tiny Dancer" has left him on the sidelines. Will tries to blend in at school and follow his 2 rules: Don't Care too much, and Shut Up. Jane seems to flirt with him, but she has an older boyfriend and maybe she just wants more members in the newly formed Gay-Straight Alliance.
will grayson lives in Evanston OH, his mom & dad divorced and he has been on antidepressants of one sort or another since. maura has shown an interest, but he was able to shut that down after finding Isaac in a group chatroom.
Will Grayson and will grayson are about to meet. In Frenchie's Porn shop. Will is wandering the town after finding his fake ID's date won't get him into clubs until next January and will has just found out maura has been faking Isaac's chat all this time and there is no boy to meet in Chicago. Well of course Tiny falls in love with the other will grayson.
Tiny's show procedes, and even though Will can't convince Tiny to write out the role of the embarassing and way too personal Phil Wrayson, Tiny finally has an epiphinany: The Show must be about LOVE! It's not about Tiny! It's about LOVE! all the songs and script must be re-written. On the night of the production, Will and the other will begin to understand who orbits who.
This is a delightful novel of identity. What is it and when did you get it? For Tiny, he's always been gay. Will Grayson and will grayson? They are about to find out. There will be misunderstandings along the way, but this charming novel faces every situation honestly. The show tunes and theater banter are great fun. I recommend this terrific read to any reader, high school and up (Strong Language).
And in other news, RevPaperboy has been making podcasts, and last night Dan & I had our dramatic debuts in Second Life. Click to listen to Papers please!As always, books ordered here will have a freebie publishers Advance Reading Copy included as a thank you to our blogosphere friends.