copyright date: August 2012
primarily marketed for: young adults (8th grade and
up)
Every once in a while I read a book so amazing that I am
torn between the urge to keep the wonder of its story all to myself and the
desire to share its goodness with all the world. Every
Day by David Levithan is just such a book.
Becky Anderson, an owner of Anderson’s Bookshops said this
is a book everyone should read. She is
right.
Every Day is the
story of ‘A.’
‘A’ wakes up each morning in a different person’s body. ‘A’ has no gender, no race, no sexual
orientation. ‘A’ takes on the unique
qualities of whatever body ‘A’ is inhabiting for the day.
Being that ‘A’ shifts from body to body, it is nearly
impossible to make connections. Any
connections made have the potential to create difficulties for the owner of the
body in which the connection was made.
As a result, ‘A’ seems destined for a rather lonely existence. ‘A’ is pretty much resigned to this
fate.
Until ‘A’ meets Rhiannon.
And falls in love.
From that point on, ‘A’ focuses almost entirely on how to
make the connection last beyond a single day, beyond a single body.
I was lucky enough to meet David Levithan when he and John
Green were touring to celebrate the release of their collaboration: Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I was even luckier to meet David Levithan
again just a few weeks ago at the Anderson’s Bookshops Young Adult Literature
Conference. There, he spoke about the
thinking behind Every Day.
Levithan said he was working to answer to questions through
writing this story:
1)
What would it be like to have no physical
manifestation of gender or race, to have no inherent religion or sexual
orientation? What would it be like to
purely be a self?
2)
Can love conquer all? Is it possible to love someone who is
constantly changing.
The thing that most amazed me about Every Day is that Levithan indeed answers these questions. As I neared the end of the story, I was
worried that he wouldn’t reach a resolution.
It seemed there weren’t enough pages left to reach a meaningful
end.
And then he does it.
He uncovers answers. And they
feel, well—they feel right. This is one of the most satisfying endings
ever. Although I would not call it a
feel-good ending, it is certainly an uplifting story. It is a story about what it means to be a
human. It is a story about love.
I must read this. I love his other books, and there is much talk about this one. How great that you got to meet him, too, Christy. Thanks for sharing about Every Day.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this. It sounds just incredible. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteI bought this book and won another copy, but still haven't been able to read it. This book is making the rounds of my students through word of mouth. I won't have to book talk it---I just want to read it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great reveiw! I couldn't decide how I felt about 'A'. What a different type of storyline for the age old question; Can love conquer all? I want to know if there is a book 2...seems like the door is open at the end...did he ever say? Great pick for a powerful story!
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