Paul is a sophomore in an idyllic high school where being gay is not an issue. Paul has known since kindergarten he was gay. He recounts to readers how he told his parents and his best friend Joni about his sexuality. There were no explosive or shocking reactions to his coming out to them, just acceptance. The cheerleaders ride Harleys during prep rallies and games and Paul’s friend Infinite Darlene is both the quarterback and the homecoming queen. The Gay-Straight alliance has more members than the football team and no one thinks twice about it. Paul falls in love with an artistic newcomer to their town named Noah. They meet each other at a local book store and Paul is smitten instantly.  They hit it off at first, but an ex-boyfriend, Kyle complicates the situation.

Levithan opens doors to a unique world that doesn’t apologize for its characters. There are characters that are both gay and straight that live, work, play, and go to school together. The parents of the students are supportive and accepting. As you begin to read the book, you realize under all its layers, it’s a romance novel about two teenage boys falling for each other. With today’s biased world taken out of the setting, the characters shine with boundless glory. Nothing is too difficult to say amongst the characters. The only exception would be their friend Tony who lives in the neighboring town. His parents know he is gay, but because of their religious beliefs they cannot accept it.

Levithan took care in extracting all signs of physical as well as ethnic markers that would give the reader any bias towards his characters. We are introduced to characters that are gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, and are cross dressers. Other than Infinite Darlene, the characters are not portrayed in stereotypical ways. Physical markers are rarely discussed in the novel to help define who is gay or straight. Characters are not described as gay or straight through the author’s dialogue or their relationships with other characters. Characters reveal to readers of their sexuality within the book’s dialogue. A character’s sexuality is not revealed in an abrupt way to the reader, but just stated as a fact. Ethnic backgrounds are not mentioned and are intentionally ambiguous to the reader. Characters cannot be pigeonholed by their names or home lives.           

You see the characters for who they really are; teenagers struggling with teenage issues. No matter what kind of relationship gay or straight is portrayed, struggles arise among old flames and friendships are stretched right before breaking points. The novel is a milestone for an underrepresented group of teens in America. “In its blithe acceptance and celebration of human differences, this is arguably the most important gay novel since Nancy Garden’s Annie on My Mind; it certainly seems to represent a revolution in the publishing of gay-themed books for adolescents.” –Booklist, Michael Cart