How They Met, And Other Stories by David Levithan

It was at Starbucks. It was on a plane. It was in physics class. It was during the war.

These are just some of the examples of "how they met." What happened? Was it a disaster? Did it last a lifetime? Well, you'll have to read to find out.

How They Met, And Other Stories is a compilation of 18 short stories about love. Not "love stories" as David Levithan describes in his author's note, but instead "stories about love." They are so varied and unique, yet come together in such a remarkable way. I'll give you a taste of just a few examples:

"Starbucks Boy" is the first story in the book, and begins "It was my aunt who pimped me out." From there, I was hooked. The story follows a guy named Gabriel, who is staying in New York with his Aunt for the summer and ends up babysitting a precocious six-year-old named Arabella. She continues to bring him to a Starbucks nearby (because what six-year-old New Yorker princess doesn't love Starbucks?), where he falls for "Starbucks Boy." But will he ever get up the courage to talk to this mocha God?

The Number of People Who Meet on Airplanes was one of my favorites, though I feel I could say that about a lot of the stories. As the title suggests, it's about a couple who meet on an airplane. What a coincidence! ...or is it? The theme of the coincidences leading up to love is one that can be seen in several stories, like How They Met, which is about the meeting of Levithan's grandparents.

A Romantic Inclination was the first of these short stories Levithan wrote and is about Sallie, James, and Physics. Physics? Yep. Levithan himself actually wrote the story in high school. While bored in a physics class, he got the idea to look through his physics book for any "romantic notions" he could find and this story is what ensued.

Many of the stories in this collection were written by Levithan throughout high school and college, which is quite astounding to know once you've seem how smart, funny and beautiful they are. Many of the stories were also "valentine stories"--stories he wrote to give to to his friends on Valentine's Day every year.

Reading this book made me smile, continually. I'm sure I looked like a complete fool reading these stories on the El since I couldn't stop myself from grinning. That is the kind of humor and charm Levithan writes with and these stories contain. And I felt like most all of the stories could be expanded into novels. That's actually how several of his other novels have begun. The characters are so developed and unique that many times I wanted to keep reading about them after the story was over! I also liked that many of his stories were about gay and lesbian youth and relationships. That's not something you often find, especially in schools. When I was reading the stories, it felt more like "pleasure reading" to me, but if there would be a way to incorporate a GLBTQ story into the classroom, I think it would be a good thing. The stories also could obviously be tied to classic literature with themes of love. And the fact that they're short stories would lend well to being incorporated in class.