Brian Sloan’s young adult novel "The Tale of Two Summers" tackles how much can change in a friendship between two boys over the course of a summer. While a plot like this generally isn’t new ground, Sloan gives the plot an added twist by adding a complication that sets the events firmly in the present time: One of the characters is straight while the other is gay.

Chuck and Hal are two 15 year olds who have been best friends for 10 years. Their friendship is strong enough to survive a particularly harrowing New Year’s Eve, when Hal, drunk on champagne, comes out to the straight Chuck by awkwardly trying to make out with him.

The novel begins six months after this event, and their friendship is set to undergo yet another test as Chuck is admitted to a summer drama program that separates him from Hal. To keep each other informed, Chuck sets up a blog where they not only update each other about their lives but also talk about the intimate details of their lives. From their common quest to finally have sex, to frank discussions as to how Hal’s sexual orientation changes the dynamics of their friendship, the two keep nothing secret from each other.

However, things may just about change when the two meet possible romantic partners. Chuck meets the Saudi songstress Ghaliyah at the drama camp, while Hal begins to spend more and more time with French Parkour enthusiast Henri.

From the very beginning of the novel Sloan already makes clear that these aren’t your ordinary straight boy-gay guy characters. Straight Chuck loves to act, dance, sing; gay Hal isn’t particularly creative and is bereft of any fashion sense. Chuck is emotional; Hal is cynical and hates everyone on principle.

It is the fact that these characters don’t conform to stereotypes and have very distinct voices that make it easy for the readers to relate to them. The boys are written as boys: They fart, talk incessantly about their genitals, and are liable to follow their penis rather than their heads. Hal is never overly feminized, and while Chuck has no problem with Hal being gay, he is still very, very straight.

For gay readers, the boys’ adventures is interesting since the two are as close to an idealized gay guy-straight boy friendship as one can get. Chuck is secure enough in his sexuality that he has no problem talking about his wet dreams with Hal, and Hal trusts Chuck enough to share with him the nitty-gritty of gay sex.

Another interesting thing is the fact that the entire novel is told entirely in blog posts. As such, some segments of the novel can get a little repetitive, but it works to the novel’s advantage as it gives it an added sense of realism.

For straight readers that may feel that a novel about a gay teen and his friendship with a straight boy has nothing to offer them, there is the fact that while Hal’s sexual orientation can take center stage at times, the novel also tackles issues of addiction, discrimination, and the dynamics of power in any sort of relationship, platonic or not. That is not to say that "Tale of Two Summers" is a "serious" book. One of the novel’s many strengths is that it tackles all these issues in a very, very funny way.

Another strength that the novel possesses is the way that Chuck and Hal’s characters are written. Sloan gets the insecurities, the awkwardness, and the inherent comedy of being a teenager, and wields it well with his two characters. While the two buck stereotypes, they are not too far away from those archetypes that they become unbelievable. Chuck may accept Hal being gay, but he also isn’t afraid to admit that certain aspects of being gay make him decidedly squeamish. And the friendship certainly isn’t perfect; throughout the novel the two have fights because of the obvious misunderstandings that can arise from a friendship between a gay guy and a straight boy.

Hal and Chuck’s relationship is so well-developed that one constantly gets the urge to skip to the end to see if their friendship survives the many challenges it faces over the summer that they are apart. By the time the novel ends, the reader doesn’t really care whether Chuck is straight and Hal is guy, what matters to them now is that the friendship between the two remains intact. And for a season whose short-lived flings and broken relationships have been made notorious by countless books, there’s something admirable about a novel that shows that friendship can be just as fulfilling – maybe even more so – than love.