Boy Meets Boy and Luna share many discrete similarities with each other. The biggest similarity between the two novels are the narrators. In each novel, the narrator is not the person going through the coming out story. In Boy Meets Boy, Paul was already out as the novel began. We soon find out it was Tony who was in the midst of his coming out story. In Luna, the narrator Regan is a heterosexual girl, it is her brother Liam who is undergoing his transition into Luna. Therefore, both novels present a coming out story through the perspective of an observer. Regan and Paul both do not fully understand what their loved one is going through. Even though Paul and Regan both admit they do not recognize their loved one’s struggle, we see that both narrators are protective and supportive towards them.
Parents are big influences in both stories as well. Both Tony and Luna’s parents are conservative. Thus, Regan and Paul must keep their loved one’s secrets. Paul kept Tony’s secret for years and helped Tony lie to his parents by pretending to be in his church group. Regan also helped Luna keep her secret. For instance, she let Luna hide in her room during the night. We can see that hiding is a big theme in both novels.
The obvious difference in the two stories would be that Tony has a gay coming out story and Luna has a transgendered coming out story. However, the societies in each story strike an even bigger difference for me. Boy Meets Boy takes place in a utopian society. The high school Paul attends is very accepting and we even see an openly transgendered football team captain. Luna’s high school is much more real. The school is a lot less accepting and we see students and teachers stick to gender norms. For instance, Regan’s chemistry teacher is constantly making sexist remarks. Therefore, for Luna, she must come out to not just her parents, but to her whole school. Luna is raw and chilling compared to Boy Meets Boy. Since Regan lives with Luna, readers get a much closer look on what Luna is going through. Paul is much more separate from Tony, so readers do not get to see Tony’s coming out story in the same detail we see Luna’s. This is important to note because the stage of a novel sets up how readers interpret it.
Initially reading the two novels, it is hard to see the similarities because of the big societal difference. However, once I stripped Boy Meets Boy of the fluff that surrounds it, I found it shares a lot in common with Luna. Luna and Tony both hide who they want to be and depend on their loved ones to help them work through it. Tony brings the realness to Boy Meets Boy that is very apparent in Luna.