Imagine a world where a kindergartner’s report card reads, “Paul is definitely gay” as nonchalantly as it continues, “and has a good sense of self.” This is Paul’s world, where boys who like boys flirt with girls who like girls, where the quarterback of the football team is also the homecoming queen, where boys have ex-boyfriends who have new girlfriends... And those are just incidental details that create the setting for a sweet high school love story that readers of all orientations will appreciate. The characters are loveable and quirky and the love story as innocent and true as any. Paul used to love Kyle, now he loves Noah who thought Paul kissed Tony. Joni used to date Ted but now she dates Chuck who drives Paul crazy. Tony is gay but his parents freaked out so Paul needs a decoy to be able to hang out with him. Tony’s story serves as a counterpoint to the rest of the narrative and is, perhaps, the one that will be most familiar to readers, as it reflects the difficulties teens have navigating their sexuality in a world that is not so appreciative of difference. It serves as the grounding point for a novel in which author David Levithan constructs a remarkable and hopeful fantasy: a world where gay teens and straight teens are all just teens. By the third chapter of this remarkable novel, that world feels like something that seems quite possible. (Ages 12–15)

This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.