Today’s post is a brief one. I had to catch up a bit on my NaNoWriMo-ing from Friday yesterday (putting down around 3, 000 words. Phew!) and have another 1,666 to get through today. I’m having a good time, but can’t but think that it might have been easier if I had some sort of plan or outline before I started. But, as is often the case, planning is not my strong suit. It took me these first few days for the zombies to show up, so I’m afraid that I might get long-winded. But, thus far it’s been a good exercise for me.
Anyway, upon a recommendation from my good friend Amy who reads a lot of teen books, I just finished Every Day by David Levithan.
I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was probably one of the more thought provoking and interesting novels that I have read this year, YA or not. The premise is that a teen who only identifies as “A” wakes up every day in a different person’s body and for that day has the consciousness of A, but also able to access the memories and history of the host person. A wakes up as girls, boys, girls who wish they were boys, boys who like other boys, girls who like either boys or girls, and of all different races, shapes, and personalities. One day that is particularly terrifying he wakes up in a drug addict’s body going through withdrawal. A, as a consciousness, doesn’t identify with any gender or physical characteristics because A’s been changing every day as long as memory serves.
The conflict of the story comes on the first day of the book. A wakes up as Justin, a boy who is not very nice to his girlfriend Rhiannon. A meets Rhiannon in Justin’s body and falls in love with her. Then has to try and figure out how to keep finding Rhiannon as every day changes. And will Rhiannon believe and accept A as a different person every day?
It’s a great book. There is a lot of discussion sparking passages on the fluid nature of A’s life and view of gender and love. I thought it was very sweet. A talks of falling in love with a person because of their own personhood, not because of the way they look or their gender identity or any other outward characteristic.
I’m still reading The Beauty Myth, and I’m also listening to Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick on audio. Reviews of those to come soon!
lcarslibrarian 