Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

I've been waiting for this book for so long, so I was totally thrilled when I picked up my signed copy at Malaprop's Tuesday.  I love the cover; I love John Green; and I love David Levithan.  I'd read great reviews and been terribly jealous of all the book bloggers and tweeple who got to read this one in advance.

I just finished and IT WAS FABULOUS!!  I absolutely loved it!

So it's two narrators...the Will Graysons alternate chapters throughout the entire book.  Will Grayson one is a sort of normal high school kid who had a sort of Group of Friends but doesn't really anymore since he stood up to everyone and wrote a letter to the school paper about how it was ok that his friend Tiny Cooper (who is anything but tiny, by the way) was gay and the best thing that happened to their school's crappy football team.  Oh yeah, and he signed his name to that letter.  So the Group of Friends kind of stopped being the Group of Friends after that.  Will has been friends with Tiny forever, which is hard sometimes because Tiny is a bit loud and dramatic...ok, well, extremely loud and dramatic and fabulous and he falls in love really easily....you get the picture. 

While Tiny is always in love with someone, Will isn't.  He just avoids relationships and really tries not to even say that much at all....that way he'll be good and won't have to deal with any drama.

Tiny's trying to get his original musical Tiny Dancer staged at school.  Tiny is huge and fabulous and on a mission when it comes to this play.

A few towns over, Will Grayson two wants to murder himself and everyone around him...well not really, but that's how he feels.  He's not so happy, this Will Grayson #2, that is unless he's online talking to Isaac, his new friend.  He makes it through school, allowing himself a little happiness toward the end of each day when he looks forward to the final bell. 

These two Will Graysons continue on their ways until one night (at a porn shop of all places) they run into each other...from that point - their worlds are connected.

As you read this book you'll see how the world's intertwine and you'll have just craploads of fun along the way.

Tiny Cooper is, as many other bloggers and reviewers have pointed out, the absolute most fabulous thing about this book.  I have no idea how Green and Levithan did the writing on this book...but Tiny is the beautiful, giant thread that holds it all together...and he's perfect in all the chapters.  As his BFF Will Grayson #1 says:

Tiny Cooper is not the world's gayest person, and he is not the world's largest person, but I believe he may be the world's largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world's gayest person who is really, really large.  Tiny has been my best friend since fifth grade...

and...

Tiny waltzes in wearing his jersey tucked into his chinos, even though football season is long over.  Every day, Tiny miraculously manages to wedge himself into the chair-desk beside mine in precalc, and every day, I am amazed he can do it...So Tiny squeezes into his chair, I am duly amazed, and then he turns to me and he whispers really loudly because he secretly wants other people to hear, "I'm in love." 

I've loved all of John Green's books (Alaska's my favorite).  I also really liked Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan, and I plan to read Boy Meets Boy soon.  These guys have really done something special here, and you absolutely must check out this book.  One, it's good, and Two, it's all about the love, and who doesn't love that!?!

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

Shop Indie BookstoresI was soooooo mad when this book ended.  Once I got into Scarlett Fever, the sequel to Suite Scarlett, I was hooked and then it just ended on me.  I am definitely already ready for the next installment of this fabulous New York girl and her life.

So Scarlett Fever picks up after the first book, obviously.  The hotel Hamlet production has ended and now life seems blank, bleary, and boyless as Scarlett looks around the empty hotel.  School's about to start and she still works for the crazy Mrs. Amberson, but she can't stop thinking about Eric, her sort-of boyfriend from the summer.

Mrs. Amberson started her own acting agency which has one client (Spencer, Scarlett's brother) as of now, but they are hoping to find more.

Scarlett's older siblings seem depressed while her younger sister, Marlene is strangely acting nice.

On top of all this, enter Chelsea Biggs and her crazy stage mom....oh, and Max, Chelsea's brother.  Mrs. Amberson wants Chelsea to sign with the agency but needs to use her "secret weapon," Scarlett to seal the deal and make it work.  Scarlett finds herself starting school, pining away for Eric, dealing with her brothers acting career, walking a rat dog that pees everywhere, and getting annoyed to death by Max who is in high school yet seems to act like a troll or fifth grader every time she's around him.

Sounds like a wonderful start to the year, huh?

Well, in this second book you get to follow Scarlett around the city on her crazy errands and adventures as she continues to find her place in the city, the world, and her own life.  I loved this book just as much as the first and can't wait for Scarlett #3.  (And I am wondering what the next titles will be and how they will use Scarlett's name....Oh, and my only beef with this book is the cover.  I know it matches the paperback....but I'm annoyed that it doesn't "go" with the first book...they don't look like sister books or friends....but that's not really a big deal.)

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Shop Indie BookstoresThe Lowdown:
Scarlett Martin lives in a hotel in New York City.  How cool is that?  It's great, but not as perfect as it might seem.  On her fifteenth birthday, Scarlett expects to have the fabulous waffle breakfast that is the tradition in her family, only to find out that their amazing cook has been let go - the Hopewell Hotel is in a tight spot...money is tight, and Scarlett's parents need her to stay around and work there for the summer.  When the kids in her family turn fifteen, they are given a room to manage in the Hotel.  Scarlett has the Empire Suite and all of her summer plans right there in front of her - hotel work. While her friends are all in faraway places learning languages, partying, and helping others, Scarlett is where she always is - home.  It seems like her summer will be pretty dull until a guest arrives to stay in Scarlett's Empire Suite - all summer!  Mrs. Amberson is a "star" of sorts who is back in the city after being gone for thirt..."some years."  She has lots of energy, dreams, goals, and Scarlett is there beside her to help her with anything she desires.  Mrs. Amberson puts Scarlett to work immediately, and what began as a slow summer quickly pics up.  Scarlett has her siblings to save, revenge plots to assist with, and boys to fall for!  Pick this book up to head to NYC for some summer fun!

What I Liked:
I loved being able to spend a summer in New York City most of all.  It was so wonderful following Scarlett and friends around the city.  I felt like I was right there.  Scarlett is a great character and very real.  I loved reading and observing the different sibling relationships between Scarlett, Spencer, Lola, and Marlene.  The hotel that Johnson has created is fantastic as well...the descriptions of the rooms were vivid and beautiful...this was the perfect setting for the book.  This book has tons that I love:  love, kissing, acting, theater, Broadway...it's just a fabulously fun ride.  I just now read this (been meaning to for a year) and I found out that Scarlett Fever - the second book in the series - is coming out at the end of this month...I can't wait!

***Oh, and Hamlet is in this book!  I've been amazed at how many YA books mention Hamlet...I saw some references in The Monstrumologist, too!  Yay for Hamlet in YA!

Read This If...
You want to hang out in NYC for the summer.
You like acting.
You have ever dealt with brothers and sisters.
You know what it's like to fall for some one.
You are a theater kid.
You dream of making it big.
You want to experience a big city adventure.
You love to save the day!