Book Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Young Adult Novel

Acquired by purchasing instantly upon release as John Green is one of the best and David Levithan is continuing to make his climb on my list.

I can honestly start this off by stating I read this book without reading a single review about it. I tried to stay away from any information while reading so I would not run into any spoilers. I will also start off by stating that this book is for a more older audience like high school and maybe 8th grade. Not because there are gay characters, but because of the language(which I loved and laughed out loud to several times while reading).

I absolutely loved this book. I can always tell that a book is going to make a special place on the bookshelf when I begin using Post-It notes to mark passages, quotes, or something else that I feel is worth marking for a reason of my own. I marked many passages in this novel. This book tells the story of two boys who are both named Will Grayson. The story is told in alternating chapters where John Green writes about the Will Grayson who has a gay friend named Tiny Cooper and David Levithan writes about the other Will Grayson who is gay and trying to find someone to connect with. Both Will Graysons cross paths in the book and this is what makes the great appeal to the storyline. I will not mention how their lives intertwine because that would really ruin the book. The message of the book is powerful and is told not through a sad tale or a story that makes you weepy. Rather John and David use their writing styles of humor, sarcasm, and real world voice to convey the message of love and to never stop trying in whatever facet of life you are dealing with. I think even the stronger message that I absorbed from the reading is that everyone has problems and we have no right to judge others and their problems just because they are not our own. Each person has issues and those issues are what infiltrates their minds and daily choices in life.

It is funny that I was reading this book at a time when I came across a post by Maureen Johnson(another fantastic author who is a friend of John Green) that posed the question, “What would your high school self sound like?” This books ties in to this question and myself as I ponder this question. Who I was in high school is not who I am today, but I think that kids are more open today and more willing to be themselves and not fear such bullying and teasing as when I was in school. Now, I am not suggesting that bullying and teasing does not go on today because it does, but when I was growing up we never expressed feelings, emotions, or things going on in our heads besides the typical male jokes and conversations. This novel has students who are trying to find themselves, but are not afraid to voice their ideas/identity to other people(whether it be parents, friends, strangers) to find answers.

I am getting sidetrack(my ADHD). This book was wonderful. I will read this again as I do all books by John Green. David Levithan was also wonderful. There were times when I liked his storyline more and then and I would switch back to John and continue this process. I can imagine why this book took so long to write. Read this book! If you have read John or David before you will be in for a treat. If not, then read their other stuff and finish with this. I will be sharing this book with others and possibly even a book club in the near future. Now back to John and Hank’s videos and blog to see what people are saying about the book. I am interested to read reviews to see what others have to say. Go on, go read this book. Tiny Cooper demands you to be fabulous.