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days of david levithan

Book Review: Everyday by David Levithan

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I can view everyone as pieces of a whole, and focus on the whole, not the pieces. I have learned to observe, far better than most people observe. I am not blinded by the past or motivated by the future. I focus on the present because that is where I am destined to live.” 

― David Levithan, Every Day

 

  • Release Date: August 28th 2012
  • Pages: 233
  • Genre: Paranormal Romance ?
  • Publisher: Knopf (Random House)

This novel is fairly different from the previous Levithan novels I’ve read so far. It’s very high concept and cerebral. The story follows A, a who wakes up every day in someone else’s body. A lives their life for one day before falling asleep and waking up in a new body the next day.  A is essentially a soul without a body, A has sentient thoughts and memories,  A has no gender or form. 

When I first heard about this book, I thought it would essentially read like a series of short stories, but there is a continuing plot. When A meets a girl named Rhiannon while in the body of her boyfriend, Justin A falls in love with her. Now, A is will do anything to get back to her and find a way for them to be together…

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Wide Awake and Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan

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Between 2013-2014 I attempt to read a large selection of David Levithan novels. See the full list here

I’m reviewing these books together because they are both pretty short and deal with the theme of young people who become part of something bigger than themselves.

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Book Review: Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan

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Join Kat as she reads and reviews the works of David Levithan 

from his debut novel to his National Book Award longlisted novel, Two Boys Kissing

 

  • Pages: 176
  • Genre: Adaptation/ Paranormal
  • Publisher: Dial (Penguin)
  • Publication Date: December 1, 2006

In Marly’s Ghost, David Levithan collaborates with illustrator and author Brian Selznick who is best known for his book The Invention of Hugo Cabaret. Together the authors remix the story and illustrations of  Charles Dickens’ classic novella, A Christmas Carol into a modern day Valentine’s Day tale.

 

This novel is a little different from most Levithan novels because it is essentially a packaged novel.  In the back of the book Levithan discusses how this novel came about because he was approached by two Penguin editors to write a Valentine’s Day spin on A Christmas Carol. Once he had a theme down, he describes how he sat down with the text of the original and worked piece by piece to create Marly’s Ghost. Because this novel sticks so close to the source material and borrows much of the language from it  has a different feel than Levithan’s previous books. …

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Audiobook Review: Will Garyson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

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Join Kat as she reads and reviews the works of David Levithanfrom his debut novel to his National Book Award shortlisted novel, Two Boys Kissing

“It’s hard to believe in coincidence, but it’s even harder to believe in anything else.” 

― John Green, Will Grayson, Will Grayson

“I think the idea of a ‘mental health day’ is something completely invented by people who have no clue what it’s like to have bad mental health. the idea that your mind can be aired out in twenty-four hours is kind of like saying heart disease can be cured if you eat the right breakfast cereal. mental health days only exist for people who have the luxury of saying ‘i don’t want to deal with things today’ and then can take the whole day off, while the rest of us are stuck fighting the fights we always fight, with no one really caring one way or another, unless we choose to bring a gun to school or ruin the morning announcements with a suicide.

 

― David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson

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  • Release Date: April 6th 2010
  • Pages: 304
  • Genre: Realistic Fiction
  • Publisher: Dutton’s Children (Penguin)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is probably David Levithan’s most well-known co-authorship and served as my introduction to David Levithan 2 years ago. I’d liked John Green’s vlogbrothers channel and decided to start reading his books. I got what I expected from Green’s writing, but Levithan’s just blew me away. It reminded me of how unique and diverse the voices in  YA writing can be. For Days of David Levithan, I did a re-read of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, but decided to switch it up with the audiobook

Will Grayson,Will Grayson  is told in the alternating perspective of two 16-year-olds named WillGrayson,each leading separate lives unknown to each other. Until faith and a little bit of bad luck has them cross paths. From that moment the story unravels as each Will Grayson is forced to examine everything they thought they knew about love, relationships and coincidence….

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Audiobook Reviews: The David Levithan and Rachel Cohn Novels

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Join Kat as she reads the works of YA author, David Levithan from his debut novel to his National Book Award shortlisted novel, Two Boys Kissing. See more here !

I’m pretty sure David Levithan has more “and” credits than any other YA author. He has co-written with popular YA authors including;  Brian Selznick, John Green and Andrea Creamer. I’ll be exploring these books in the next few weeks, but I’m starting with his most frequent partner in crime; Rachel Cohn, a veteran YA author herself. 

  Cohn and Levithan write stories that are all about romance and love, but their unique storytelling methods bring something new to the genre. Their writing aesthetics work wonderfully together and I really hope we see more from them in the future. This week I have reviewed the audiobook versions all of their collabs.



Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2006)
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Book Review: Are We There Yet ? by David Levithan

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Join Kat as she reads and reviews the works of David Levithan
from his debut novel to his National Book Award shortlisted novel, Two Boys Kissing. See more here !

“Do you wander why we wander ?”

– David Levithan, Are We There Yet ?

 

  • Release Date: July 12th 2005
  • Publisher: Knopf
  • Genre: Contemporary
  • Pages: 215

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Elijah is completely mellow and his 23-year-old brother Danny is completely not, so it’s no wonder they can barely tolerate one another. So what better way to repair their broken relationship than to trick them into taking a trip to Italy together? 

 

 

For now I am skipping David Levithan’s sophomore novel, The Realm of Possibility, and jumping to his third novel Are We There Yet ? his second novel to be written in traditional prose.…

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