Age: 16
Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Publisher: Random House
Pub Date: 8/28/12
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: I was first intrigued by this book because it was described to me as being about someone who wakes up in a different body every day, falls in love with a girl, and tries to make it work with her, proving that love has nothing to do with appearance. As if that isn't a great enough concept, IT'S SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. Because A gets to experience the lives of different teenagers, he/she experiences every different form of love there is, which is a beautiful thing. This book is not just about A and Rhiannon, it is about every one of the lives A inhabits and their love stories. Besides that, this book explores different forms of identity. A is somehow the person who seems to be the most comfortable and familiar with their identity, while others have trouble seeing past the outer layer. How much do we really know about ourselves? Are we really better off staying in the same body every day? Is it possible to love someone when you might not recognize them from day to day? What is real love? How do we know when we've found it? This book explores the answers to all of these questions, and so many more.
Memorable or Forgettable: A is a wonderful character. It seems, at first, that it will be hard to relate to someone who changes day to day, who identifies as neither female nor male, yet as the reader and Rhiannon discover simultaneously, A is so incredibly human, and an incredibly good human at that. It is easy to see A's thought process, to understand how he/she makes decisions. Yet, even though A states early on that having an outsider's perspective has allowed him/her to gain a clearer understanding of what life is like, A is still baffled and hurt when things don't work out. This is not only a million incredible love stories combined into one, it is the story of realizing you don't, and never can, have all the answers.
Cover: The cover is very pretty. It matches the tone of the book, dreamlike and soft. It is not something that would normally catch my eye, but I like it.
Age Range: 12 to 18 and up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
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