The Tiny Cooper Award for Best Supporting Character

As a young girl watching West Side Story, I always identified with Anita over Maria. Anita was tough, Maria was a soft dreamer. Anita tried to protect Maria from the harsh realities of the world, but when she saw that her friend was truly in love, she was willing to set aside her doubts. Of course, that situation didn't turn out so well, but at least Anita tried, right? Despite their efforts, the Anitas of the fictional world get no love. At least, they didn't before Tiny Cooper came along.

Tiny Cooper is Will Grayson 1's best friend in Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Tiny Cooper is so amazing that one girl has made a video declaring him her guru, despite the fact that he is a fictional character. Some have even suggested that Tiny is so wonderful the novel should be called Tiny Cooper, Tiny Cooper. Tiny Cooper is the winner of the first annual Tiny Cooper Award for Best Supporting Character in a YA novel. So without further ado, in lieu of five nominees, here are five reasons that Tiny Cooper is, as Ru Paul would say, the WINNAH!

1) According to Will Grayson, Tiny "may be the world's largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world's gayest person who is really, really large."

2) Tiny has such a big and open heart, that he immediately falls in love with boys he has just met, which means he falls in love "every hour on the hour."

3) He has written a musical about his life entitled Tiny Dancer. Sample lyric: "I may be big-boned and afraid/but my faith in love won't be mislaid!"

4) In a burst of inspiration, Tiny rewrites his musical because he realizes the following: "...in spite of my great and terrible fabulousness, the play can't be about me. It must be about something even more fabulous: love. The polychromic many-splendored dreamcoat of love in all its myriad glories."

5) "TINY COOPER HATES OVER THE RAINBOW!"

For these reasons, and oh so many more, we award the inagural Tiny Cooper Award for Best Supporting Character to Tiny Cooper.