Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Title: Will Grayson Will Grayson 
Authors: John Green and David Levithan
Published: 2010
ISBN: 0525421580
Pages: 310
Price: $17.99
Genre: Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ
Reading Level: 10th grade
Reading Interest: 10th grade and up
Awards: YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults (2011), Children's Choice Book Award Nominee for Teen Choice Book of the Year (2011)
Plot Summary: The story focuses on two high school boys named Will Grayson. One Will Grayson is a straight wallflower who tries to get through life by talking as little as possible. Will Grayson believes the more you can blend in the better. Though having your best friend be a giant, loud, flamboyant gay guy name Tiny who often breaks out in song isn't helping Will Grayson keep a low profile. Then there is the other Will Grayson. Will Grayson is also a bit of loner, who spends most of his days struggling with his depression. The only things he looks forward to is talk to a guy namedIsaac online. Will Grayson is gay but has never told anyone. Then one night the two Will Grayson's cross paths outside a porn store in downtown Chicago and their lives are never the same. Can both of them learn to stop out from the shadows and live life or will they both be content to watch things from the sidelines.
Critical Review: The story is told in alternating chapters, going between the two Will Grayson's. John Green is the voice of straight Will Grayson, while David Levithan is the voice of gay Will Grayson. Both characters have a distinct voice and Levithan write's his Will Grayson with no capitalization. This I think helps convey the idea his Will Grayson lives life in a constant feeling of just trying to get by. He is on a number of medicines to battle his depression and the side effect is that he almost seems to never have any emotion, good or bad.The other Will Grayson, told by John Green, is a character who would rather just stay on the sidelines. But this isn't always possible due to his friendship with Tiny, who is always the center of attention. Tiny is one of my favorite characters in the story. He's honest, hilarious and larger than life and when presented next to wallflower Will Grayson he is even more outrageous. His character could have easily been cartoonish or a stereotypically flamboyant gay man but John Green and David Levithan manage to make Tiny believable and very likable. The story moves quickly and the characters deliver humor and honest in a fun and easy read.
Reader's Annotation: The last thing high schooler Will Grayson expected to find in a porn store in downtown Chicago is another high schooler named Will Grayson. But that is exactly what happens. Now their lives seems to be overlapping due to the one Will Grayson's openly gay and flamboyant friend Tiny who is everything but tiny and his musical. But when both Will Grayson's are trying to stay out of the limelight how will they deal with Tiny suddenly thrusting them both into it?
Book Talk Ideas: For this book talk it would be great to represent both voices of Will Grayson with either two people doing the book talk or at least two separate view points. The focus should be on how these two lives intercept and seem to keep meeting up through out the story.
Issues Present: The book has quite a few things that some may take issues with. There is a lot foul language, talk of sex, teens with fake IDs, and there is a big focus on gay teens.
Main Themes: relationships, friendship, homosexuality, sexuality, depression
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: First the book presents gay teens in a way that allows them to be more than just a stereotype. It also shows the complexity of friendship and romantic relationships, whether those be gay or straight. Both Will Grayson's struggle with issues, one with depression and the other with living life on the sidelines. Teens can relate to their struggles and maybe find comfort in their ability to overcome some of the issues they struggle with.
Read alikes: Freak Show by James St. James, Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Author Website: http://johngreenbooks.com/
http://www.davidlevithan.com/
Professional Reviews: Kirkus Reviews
Publisher's Weekly
Why Chose this Book? Both David Levithan and John Green are popular and critically acclaimed teen authors in their own right. They tend to focus on realistic teen issues and present teens in a way that shows them as emotional, intelligent and complex. This book does a great job of showing how teens interact with both friends and romantic relationships.