Banned Book Review: Two Boys Kissing
Updated: Apr 12
“There is the sudden. There is the eventual. And in between, there is the living.” - David Levithan, Two Boys Kissing
David Leviathan’s Two Boys Kissing is a beautiful love letter celebrating Queer lives of the present and past. The book primarily focuses on the titular two boys, Harry and Craig. Determined to make a statement in their small town of Kindling, they attempt to break the world record for the longest kiss of over 32 hours. Interwoven with their stories, we follow several other young boys over the course of a weekend, each with moments of joy and loss. The narration, however, takes an incredibly unique focus by bridging generations of LGBTQ people. All of the stories in the book take place through the eyes of the Ghosts of the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic.
To put it simply, I loved this book. It perfectly emulates a lifetime of queer experience in words so few that the prospect seems impossible. From the brightest Queer joy to the most difficult moments we ever face, this book told the story of my life, and the story of so many lives before and after mine.
Like any book, though, it is not without flaws. While the book features a technically diverse cast of Queer characters, many of them are white and upper-class. Furthermore, the characters have male privilege and arguably fewer struggles than other marginalized Queer identities.
While diversity can always be a point of improvement, I’d like to argue that the book does make a strong attempt to build diversity in other ways, with a prominent trans character as well as some (admittedly minor) perspectives on racial issues. Leviathan also notes the struggles of mental health, something important considering how many LGBTQ youth today struggle with this topic. It’d be nice to see more diversity in this way, but I do not believe it detracted strongly from the overall voice and importance of this book.
As a young trans person, I saw my life reflected in stories like Avery’s, a young transgender boy who meets and falls in love with his cisgender peer Ryan.* His plot throughout the story reflects some of the experiences of transgender people and sheds light upon the hidden disconnect between cisgender and transgender lives. To read more about some of these issues, check out my post on gender dysphoria.
Leviathan also covered the unfortunate struggles of mental health that so many Queer people face with a perspective so raw, that at times I found it hard to read. Cooper, one of the prominent characters in the story, is a struggling seventeen-year-old who truly shows just how complex an issue bad mental health can be when a part of yourself is so deeply repressed. Throughout my life, I’ve been no stranger to mental health struggles, and Leviathan’s approach to this character painted such a clear and inescapable condition of what depression can be. Furthermore, his telling detailed the struggles of mental health and life without a diagnosis by never explicitly stating his condition. His descriptions of Cooper’s numbness to life and his worsening situation are a painful depiction of what so many youth face. The sense of loss is only accentuated by the helpless narration of the AIDS sufferers who have passed. His story is a painful one, but it is also too important to not be acknowledged.
This book made my heart soar while simultaneously breaking it more times than I’d like to admit. Still, I’m glad I have a copy of my own. Two Boys Kissing covers so many struggles, unspoken and spoken as part of life as a Queer person. Leviathan truly has a way with words, and so many quotes from this book are nothing short of breathtakingly beautiful. This is the kind of book I will read again and again, each time gaining new perspective and insight from each page.
While Sunny Parks is primarily a family-friendly resource, I recommend this book for older readers because of the many sensitive topics covered. This book can be a great starting point to learn more about Queer identities and can be supplemented by researching the AIDS crisis, transgender lives, and mental health struggles. I’ve provided links below to help you in this journey. As Leviathan so amazingly writes, “Ignorance is not Bliss. Bliss is knowing the full meaning of what you’ve been given.”
Find bliss.
*Author’s note: In my research for this post, I found that Leviathan has written an entire book on Ryan and Avery, so that’s definitely going on my reading list. Leave a comment down below and perhaps I’ll do a review of that book too. 😉