Books like Two Boys Kissing

A tender, generation-spanning embrace that connects the ghosts of the past to the defiant joy of the present. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Two Boys Kissing.

tender
poignant
hopeful
haunted

01
Boy Meets Boy
David Levithan · 2006
A joyful, utopian queer rom-com that feels like a warm hug and a confetti cannon going off at the same time.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
- first love
02
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
John Green and David Levithan
A chaotic, big-hearted collision of teenage angst and theatrical joy that celebrates the messy reality of finding your people.
Shares:
- earnest
03
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
A sleepless, music-fueled sprint through neon-lit streets in search of the perfect song and a sudden, unexpected connection.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
04
How They Met, and Other Stories
David Levithan
A kaleidoscopic celebration of young love in all its messy, joyful, and heartbreaking forms.
Shares:
- tender
- hopeful
- earnest
- bittersweet
05
At the Edge of the Universe
Shaun David Hutchinson
A surreal, heart-wrenching exploration of grief and first love, set against the backdrop of a slowly vanishing universe.
Shares:
- earnest
- bittersweet
06
The Vast Fields of Ordinary
Nick Burd · 2009
A sun-drenched, bittersweet exploration of the messy, heartbreaking summer between high school and whatever comes next.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
- bittersweet
07
Openly straight
Bill Konigsberg
A funny, heartfelt exploration of what happens when the desire to shed labels accidentally means shedding your true self.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
08
Rainbow boys
Alex Sanchez
A candid, big-hearted exploration of the terrifying and exhilarating threshold between hiding who you are and stepping into the light.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
09
Something Like Summer
Jay Bell
A sweeping, decade-spanning queer romance that captures the messy, beautiful evolution of a bond that refuses to fade.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
- bittersweet
- reflective
10
The boys on the rock
Fox, John
An exuberant and tender exploration of a Bronx teenager's transformative summer of first queer love.
Shares:
- tender
- hopeful
- earnest
- first love
11
Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
A sun-drenched, tender exploration of boyhood, identity, and the quiet miracles of first love.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
12
More happy than not
Adam Silvera
A heartbreaking, speculative exploration of whether erasing our deepest pains is worth losing the truth of who we are.
Shares:
- earnest
- bittersweet

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