Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green

I've been dying to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson from the first moment I saw another blogger review it.  Then Linda from the Optimistic Pessimist told me how epic it was while we were all hanging around the Casa de Blogger during BEA.  I decided that it was fate when I saw copies for sale at the Teen Author Carnival on Monday night before BEA kicked off.  I bought a copy and had David Levithan sign it.  That book is now one of my most prized signed books.  Thank you David for doing the Carnival and for writing such awesome books!

This book features two boys who are both, oddly enough, named Will Grayson and who both have pretty apathetic views of life.  The first Will Grayson that we meet has a larger than life (literally) best friend who is both enormous and enormously gay.  Will has been friends with Tiny Parker from childhood and Will feels stuck with him but is that really the way things are?  Will's other friends are his friends through Tiny and his position as president of Gay Straight Alliance.  Will Grayson Two is a gay boy living in a rundown bit of suburbia with his mom.  He has few friends and the ones he has are a bit out there.  There's Maura who wants to be more than his friend and isn't getting his not so subtle hints that it just isn't going to happen and his Mathletic nerdy lunch friends Simon and Derek.  After coming out to himself and then his friends at school Will also makes friends with Gideon, pretty much the only other gay student at their school.  What happens when Will Grayson meets Will Grayson?  Does the world end or do they learn new things about themselves, their friends and how to be a Will Grayson?

First Will Grayson begins the story and his chapters involve proper capitalization.  Second will grayson's chapters are all in lowercase letters and he has alternating chapters with Will Grayson.  This book is amazing! There is not one thing about it that I would change.  It was epic from start to finish and I barely put it down after I started reading.  I loved that the story was funny and serious at the same time.  It showed how both Will Graysons changed for the better after meeting one another.  I think that this would be a great book for any teen to read because it deals with lots of pertinent issues for teens like depression, friendship, betrayal and being true to yourself but it accomplishes everything while remaining suitably light.  There is some swearing and mention of sexual shenanigans but it is minimal- nothing that you won't hear in the halls of a typical high school.  There are also blatant GLBT characters and themes so, if that isn't your thing, you may want to sit this one out.  (But it's totally your loss.)  I found this to be a great read and I can't wait to read some more by David Levithan!! I think I'll try Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist next!

Will Grayson, Will Grayson earns 5 Fairies for having plenty of Will Grayson and lots of friendship.