About the book: Will Grayson is best friends with Tiny – a very big, person and personality. They have been friends since elementary school. Tiny happens to be gay. Will Grayson meets Jane through Tiny. A girl with a great taste in music and is not afraid to say what she thinks. Will Grayson struggles to break out of his comfort zone and participate in life. He wavers back and forth about liking Jane. Finally, when she is not available he decides he does like her. Tiny of course pushes him towards Jane. One night they all go to a bar to hear a band play. Will Grayson’s fake i.d. does not work to get him in. The others leave him behind and he runs into another person named will grayson. The new Will Grayson is gay and has just found out his supposed friend set him up with an imaginary person in order to get him to own up to being gay. Tiny takes the new will grayson and distracts him from the issue. They start dating, Tiny throwing his whole self in as he always does in relationships. will grayson struggles with being needed by Tiny and struggles with his depression. Tiny has written a musical about his life and works on organizing the production of the musical. Will Grayson the best friend does not want him to use the character that portrays him, but Tiny does not relent just changes the character’s name. They have a few falling outs during this time period. The emotional struggles that occur help them to start to understand and begin to become more comfortable with who they are. Will Grayson and Jane become boyfriend and girlfriend, Tiny and Will Grayson break up, and finally everyone let’s Tiny know how much he is appreciated by them.
Readers Response: The text is told by two different characters with the same name. The text changes as the different Will Grayson tells his story. Regular use of capital letters in the text for the original Will Grayson and no capital letters for the other will grayson. The book Will Grayson, Will Grayson would be an excellent addition to a booktalk that was about books by the authors John Green and D. Levithan. If I used as this book as the opener I would read the conversation between will grayson and Tiny when they are breaking up. I think it would make a reader want to learn more about the characters and consider reading the book. Some other books I might include in the booktalk would be Every Day by Levithan, An Abundance of Katherines by Levithan, The Realm of Possibility by Levithan, The Lover’s Dictionary by Levithan, Let it Snow by Green, and The Fault in Our Stars by Green.
Questions about the book answered by the author: http://johngreenbooks.com/wg-questions/
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