Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about The Grapes of Wrath

Hilarious and poignant, this book provides a humorous look at high school adolescence. When Mitchell's best friend, David, reveals himself to be gay during lunch period, Mitchell begins questioning his own sexuality through side-splitting tests. He also creates a disastrous claymation film about "The Grapes of Wrath" to get out of writing an English paper and somehow winds up taking the most popular girl to the prom.

Goldman understands the psyche of a male high school student very well. At times emotionally mature but also obsessed with the little things that make you feel high school is the most important thing in the world, Mitchell's take on the world is hilarious and truthful. I found myself cackling throughout the prom scene and show more believing the craziness every step of the way.

On a more serious note, Mitchell's changing relationship with David is handled beautifully and realistically. A great book to give to any teenager! show less

Started out reading this high school narrative without much interest -- sometimes I seem to have a hard time getting into boy perspective fiction, not sure why. But, I persisted, and was so surprised and pleased with this novel. Mitch discovers that his best friend David is gay, tries to pass a stop animation movie off as an English assignment, deals with the general high school rite of passage stuff, and just maybe, finds someone to go with him to the prom. Goldman captures the confusion Mitch feels so well, about girls, or how to deal with David now that their relationship has changed. His dilemma in the boys bathroom during the prom is the highlight. I'd recommend this for John Green fans.

Mitchell Wells is a normal, somewhat geeky, honors class junior and even if his life is unexciting, at least it is not totally horrible. However, his life is in for a lot of changes when his best friend David tells him he's gay, he decides that he simply cannot read The Grapes of Wrath and he decides to do a claymation project instead of a book report.

This was a great "feel good" young adult novel to read on a beautiful spring day! It was very funny in parts and had me chuckling throughout. It also had some touchingly serious parts. The story is told completely from Mitch's point of view but since he is such an empathetic character we can actually identify with and feel for many of the others, especially his best friend David, who is show more struggling to work out issues of his own. I really enjoyed everyone in the story, from Mitch and David, right down to Mitch's bossy sister and pompous English teacher.

One of the parts I found very funny was entitled "The Masturbation Chapter" where Mitch attempts to read Steinbeck's novel and ends up with a bunch of allegories for...well the title of the chapter.

This is a wonderfully funny story that was very enjoyable to read. Highly recommended! show less

I really wasn't sure I was going to like this book, but it turns out I was wrong. It's a very cute coming of age story about a boy whose best friend comes out to him. It deals with all sorts of issues relating to how to deal with your best friend being gay. Goldman also tosses in a bit of humor, to keep things from getting too serious. My only complaint is that the cover really takes away from the book.

This is a first novel, and I'm looking forward to reading more from the author. It is the story of two boys who are best friends- one straight, one gay, both undeniably geeky and making their way through the social minefield that is high school. The book features equal parts heartbreaking moments and laugh out loud humor, it is highly recommended for high school readers.

Funny, touching and a great YA story from a teen boy's point-of-view.

It was funny and well written and I couldn’t stop reading. David. Just David was most compelling. It was well written, but I did come across many punctuation errors and typos. The title is really long. It’s longer than the book! AHS/KG