Two Boys Kissing

By: David Levithan

Narrated by: David Levithan

Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

Stonewall Honor Book

Lambda Literary Award Winner

From the New York Times best-selling author of Every Day, this love story of shared humanity and history Hypable calls "an interconnecting web that will leave you emotionally exhausted and absolutely thrilled to have read something so beautiful and unique".

Based on true events - and narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS - Two Boys Kissing follows Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record. While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teens dealing with universal questions of love, identity, and belonging.

©2013 David Levithan (P)2013 Listening Library

Critic reviews

National Book Award Longlist

"A landmark achievement from a writer and editor who has helped create, in literature, a haven for queer youth." (

Publishers Weekly)

"The novel has genuine moments of insight and wisdom.... Inspiring." (

Kirkus Reviews)

A tear jerker for sure

It is hard to put in words how truly inspiring and pertinent this book has been for me and many of people I know in the queer community as well as non-queer people. This novel is....frankly everything I needed, thank you David.

This Is A MUST Listen

It's four stories intertwined in a two day period. I'll call them the kiss, the couple, the prom, and the lost. The narrator is like the collective LGBT and AIDS victims in o1ne watching over us and seeing who we are. The emotions following these characters through this small window of their lives. It makes us remember those that came before and after us. It reminds us how far we've come and how much we still need to do. How thankful were you for those that supported you when you came out. The pain from those that turn thier backs on you when you told them. You will feel a lot from the two day look into these lives.

Love, love, love, this book

I originally listened to this book back in 2013 or 2014. I remember having to wait several minutes in my car to clean up the tears at the end. In 2015, as I was listening in the Supreme Court to Justice Kennedy read his decision in Obergefell I pictured those we lost to homophobia rejoicing as I’m sure would have happened in this story. Please read this book.

A Powerful Book with a Unique Voice

Two Boys Kissing is a powerful book with a unique voice. It’s narrated by the spirits of gay men who died of AIDS and watch and wonder over the current generation of gay males. A series of character vignettes intersect to show the contrast between then and now- how things have changed and how they have remained the same. The backdrop of the two boys kissing for the Guinness Book of World Records is the link that binds the characters together.

We follow several teen boys throughout the book: The two boys kissing are exes Harry and Craig, Neil and Peter are in a long-term relationship, transgendered Avery meets Ryan, and Cooper is getting lost in the digital dating world. Each person has their ups and downs over the course of the book, and there are examples of good and bad parenting and coming out experiences. Cooper’s story probably got to me the most, and like the narrators of the book I wanted to reach out and help him through his crisis.

The ghost narrators see the familiar and unfamiliar in the world of today’s gay teens, from bullying and unaccepting parents, to gay proms and the rally of support of two boys kissing. I remember the early days of the AIDS pandemic so that colored my reading experience and made it hit home all the more. The voices from the past give contextual relevance to the events taking place in the present, and you can feel the collective sorrow, joy and hope in their words.

I listened to the audiobook, read by the author himself, David Levithan. I think it’s my first time hearing the author’s voice, and there’s always a part of me that worries when an author chooses to read their own work rather than leave it to the professionals. But, in this case Levithan delivers the book’s narration expertly, and I can’t imagine anyone else reading it. When an author can do voice work I think it’s great that they narrate their work- who else knows the book better, right? Levithan expertly conveys the emotional state of mind of the different personalities and brings the stories to life. There are several generations of voices and personalities in the book, and Levithan gives each a distinct delivery. With the books unique narrative the audiobook helped me keep track of all the characters and made the message resonate even more.

This book and Every Day are my favorite Levithan books and I think Two Boys Kissing is very relevant and moving. I was connected to the story through Levithan’s gorgeous words, and found the voices of the narrators meaningful.

Best book

This book is a great book, it brings you back into the feelings for being a youth and finding your first love or loosing it. It also reminds us of the love of our plants and how strong it was and for those with parents who supported us it is a great memory to never loose. With having so many Trans friends in my life I think the Author handled this with the raw part of love sees love for all and accepts youth has that some adults don't have. It was a beautiful store line.
Over all the hold book was great and defiantly is an emotion look back.

This book is amazing.

I have never had a book hit me so hard I started sobbing in a Walmart kitchenware isle.

The best book I've read in 2020

Since chapter one you can feel in the prose of the book, in the voice of the author, how much beautiful this audible is.
Every chapter is so well-narrated that you can feel the emotions flow in the voice as you're listening to, you feel the anger, the calm, the nervousness, the adrenaline every character is passing by, but most important, you can feel the characters, just as if they exist, as if they were there, with you, you can let yourself lost in the delightful world that was created for us, you can let yourself lost in the sound of the words, of the phrases, such memorable and full of thruth phrases, almost every 5 min I had to pause so I can take a note.
This book is something all of us should be able to hear, read or see at least one time in our lives, despite the message it lefts you, you feel the comfort and you even feel yourself in the characters, you see yourself through all the path, and that is something actually difficult to achieve, the author has all my respect.
I fully recommend it, it's such a masterpiece.

Fantastic!

What made the experience of listening to Two Boys Kissing the most enjoyable?

I was happy the author, David Levithan, read the novel; I felt the novel was disseminated in the way it should have been--as the author read it the way he felt it and had envisioned it. The story was moving, and I am sure I will think about this novel for years to come.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The AID's chorus.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Wanted to and did!

Simply Amazing

This story did something. It made me realize and feel a lot.. I fell in love with the plot, with the characters and was completely enthralled with the story. It's too soon for me to know why it made me feel the way I did, but I do know that I won't forget this book. Also this is my first audio book and I found nothing wrong, it was very easy to understand what was being said. I didn't think I'd like listening to a book as much as I do. (=

Required for gay men over 50

What made the experience of listening to Two Boys Kissing the most enjoyable?

The language is beautiful and the insight is uncanny

What was one of the most memorable moments of Two Boys Kissing?

References without explanation about life during AIDS crisis

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was as if my life story had been told.

Any additional comments?

I bought a hard copy of the book so I could see the beautiful language.