Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Mid-June, I read David Levithan's Every Day. I've been getting through several YA novels this summer that are on the state reading lists for the upcoming school year, and this was one of them. Sadly, I ended up not liking the book very much. I say sadly because I was really interested and excited about the idea of the book . . . but the execution did not appeal to me. You can find many other reviews on the book that give you a synopsis, but I'll give a short one here:

Narrator/main character "A" wakes up every day in a different body. A resides in each body for one day only, and usually just tries to fit into the person's regular routine and not shake things up. The reader follows A through a couple of months at age sixteen (A only wakes up in the bodies of people the same age as A). One day, A falls in love with Rhiannon, the girlfriend of Justin, a boy who A inhabits. A wants to try to keep seeing Rhiannon, but as you can imagine, A's situation makes this difficult. (Luckily A swaps between people usually within a few hours of one another.)

The idea was really neat I thought, and I wanted to see how the author explained how A would deal with the difficulties this kind of life would bring. I will not be too wary of spoiling things, so watch out.

Positives: The interesting idea. Each chapter is a different day, a different person, and there are a couple that are really touching in how A deals with the person's situation (for example, deciding to "interfere" and tell a suicidal girl's dad how she feels, when A usually tries not to interfere too often). And, the few "bonus" chapters at the end detailing some days before the novel starts were pretty good as a short story on their own.

Negatives: Almost everything else. Number 1, which most of the other reviews I read after finishing the book hit on as well, was that the narrator is too "preachy." Really, it sounded like I was just reading the author's thoughts instead of a distinct voice for A. The reason for this probably stems from the fact that author David Levithan is gay, and in this novel he makes a LOT of statements through A about tolerance and acceptance. Now, I'm not against those ideas being in YA novels. However, to me it felt like the author was telling me how to feel through his narrator, instead of letting me decide for myself or make a judgement based on the actions of the characters. Plus, there were some times when I just didn't agree with the main character's ideas on those subjects. That's my own personal opinion, I know, but it colored my reading, so I'll be honest about it here.

A is especially repetitive about convincing Rhiannon that A sees him/herself as neither a a boy nor a girl. I can understand the reasoning behind that, given that A switches between the two all the time. It is harder for Rhiannon to wrap her mind around this - which I can also understand, because living 16 years in one body would make it hard to understand. I imagine A as a boy, probably because A first appears in the body of Justin (Rhiannon's boyfriend), so even though the author probably would not like it, I'm going to call A "he" from now on for consistency and ease of writing. I noticed that a lot of reviewers also automatically called A "he" and did not mention that A sees him/herself as neither, so I felt like I at least wanted to mention this fact. (I do wonder if the love interest had been a boy rather than a girl whether I/others would have viewed A more as a girl.)

So, one thing that bothered me stems from the above point. When A meets up with Rhiannon in a girl's body (often going to great lengths and breaking that vow of not meddling with the body's life), it is harder for Rhiannon to show A affection. A seems to try to make Rhiannon feel guilty about this. That's bothersome. Rhiannon is clearly a heterosexual female, and has lived so for 16 years. Even if you agree (like A seems to think), that we should just "love who we love" regardless of gender or anything, that does not negate that fact that most people are attracted to one over the other, and it's not Rhiannon's "fault" that she feels awkward being with A as a girl.

Also, I don't like that A is so selfish. He tries to make it like he's not, but he is. This is realistic, but hard to read in the first person and still "like" the narrator. He falls in love with Rhiannon while in Justin's body and he just "knows" that Justin is a jerk and Rhiannon deserves better. A acts like he is far beyond his years, which I guess is believable considering the way his life has been lived, but he sounds pompous sometimes. Besides just seeing Rhiannon more often, then finally spilling his secret, he tries to persuade her to break up with Justin, and not even very subtly (maybe that's better, though). He pretends it is for her own good, and maybe it is because Justin kind of is a jerk, but clearly A is also being selfish. Then he wants Rhiannon and him to be able to have a relationship, and ignores how difficult this will be for her - she is clearly unsure about it and finally makes it clear that it just can't work, him trying to see her all the time and dragging all these bodies all over the place. She can see that this is selfish, and he only seems to see his desire for her. Ok, a couple of times he debates and maybe realizes that this is not fair to his hosts, and I will grant that it does not seem fair for A that his life has to be lived the way it does and he can't really have a stable family and friends - but another part of me was like, well, this is the hand he has been dealt and he is going to have to live with it, as cruel as that may be.

MAJOR END-OF-BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD

Towards the end, A wakes up in the body of a boy he deems a nice guy, and he asks Rhiannon to meet him and pretend it is their first date. He has, by this time, figured out how to sort of implant what memories he wants the body's real inhabitant to keep the next day. So, the boy A is in will remember meeting Rhiannon and going on a stellar date with her. That night, he basically tells Rhiannon to stay with this guy and start a new relationship with him. Yeah, he basically picks out a guy for her since he can't be with her. Weird, controlling, and silly.

Last, the final thing that made me most angry with this book. Here is a specific passage that may illustrate the preachy-ness and how the book is really not-so-tolerant-as-it-purports-to-be in some cases.

Day 6023: "Even before I open my eyes, I like Vic. Biologically female, gendered male. Living within the definition of his own truth, just like me. He knows who he wants to be. Most people our age don't have to do that. They stay within the realm of the easy. If you want to live within the definition of your own truth, you have to choose to go through the initially painful and ultimately comforting process of finding it."

Problems with this passage:

A) I have a more objective view of "truth." While I realize that some things we call "truths" can be subjective (say, I might say "Math is hard" and that may be "true" for me but not for someone else) I think "Truth" needs to be objective or how can we have it? So I'm not sure what A means, "the definition of your own truth." I guess he means that you could be born female, like Vic,  but feel that in "truth," you are male.

B) The bigger issue: I feel the author is basically saying that anyone who is cisgender (I think I am using that correctly: someone whose "mental" sex aligns with their physical sex, as opposed to transgender) is limited, scared, or wrong. As if because I was born female, identify as female, and am attracted to men, I am taking the "easy" path. I'm sorry, but this does not mesh with everything I hear about people being "born" the way they are, their identity and desires not necessarily up to them to "choose." Levithan's narrator says "find," I guess, but what does that mean? I have to go out and try everything out to figure out what I already knew about myself? And if I don't choose to do this or don't "have to do that" as he says, am I somehow inferior than those who did have to do so? I can understand that the types of people he is referring to go through a lot of angst and perhaps persecution for "living in their own truth" ... but I am offended by this passage that makes it seem like I am taking the easy (suggesting inferior) path.

Levithan may not have meant consciously to make his writing sound this way, but to me it does. I felt continually bombarded by A's thoughts and opinions without room to make my own conclusions. I think drawing conclusions rather than being told what to think or how to feel is important in a YA novel. Yes, in school we (I'm a teacher) guide students to understand certain readings of books, but hopefully we do so in a way that helps them make their own assumptions and conclusions. Plus, I hope most of us let them keep their own opinions about the story, even if to us personally that opinion is skewed or missing something. We present the ways of looking at the story, but we don't force them to change their beliefs or morals or opinions about situations. Levithan's book made me feel like I was being forced to listen to the narrator's beliefs on everything and like if I had a differing opinion, I was being stupid, like Rhiannon when she could not show affection to A as a girl as easily.

I was sad that a book with such an interesting and promising premise turned out difficult to read. I tried imagining that A, being a teenager, is just spouting his own ideas, like teenagers do, and it was up to me to look at him as a person with flaws (selfishness, rash action) as well as good things, and make my own judgements on what he said ... but at the same time I felt that despite the fact that A is flawed as a character, the author wanted me to completely agree with all his opinions. It's hard to explain this. I guess I feel like an impressionable young reader might just take the word of this narrator as gospel without really thinking about what is being said or who is saying it because it is said in a more eloquent tone of the "teenager that every teenager wants to be," smart, funny, witty, etc. Overall, I like the idea and one or two interesting or poignant chapters, but overall Levithan's writing and A's voice made it not enjoyable for me.

Review: Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

Just finished Witch & Wizard by James Patterson. The bad news: it was not exactly what I was expecting. The good news: it made me feel more confident about the writing abilities of my 10th graders this past year. I'll explain what I mean by that later on.

First of all, my expectations. I had seen this book around and--this is pretty superficial, but don't judge--the cover looked cool and the title was catchy. I was intrigued. After reading the back cover, which introduces Whit and Wisty Allgood, the teenage protagonists, I was even more interested, A) because it was Young Adult fantasy literature, which I enjoy, and B) (again, perhaps superficial) because their names were cool. I guessed quickly that Wisty was short for Wisteria, and I thought Whit was short for Whitman. I thought, that would be a neat baby name for an English major (I would probably not name my own kid that, not being a huge Whitman fan, but it's interesting nonetheless). Whit is a cute nickname. I expected literary allusions galore. There were a few. Whit actually stands for Whitford.

I think the problem was that I was expecting a Young Adult novel geared towards adults, or that would interest adults. For example, I think the Harry Potter series is a  Young Adult series that could be appreciated by adults. Also, books by Tamora Pierce. I should maybe have taken the hint that the readership age was intended to be a bit younger when one of my 8th graders was reading it, but some of them read a variety of books which are intended for slightly older readers.

While the idea behind the novel was interesting (the New Order bans books, music, and art of the previous era, and most importantly, anyone associated with magic), the set up of the book left something to be desired. I expected more detail and background about the New Order and about the main characters, but the reader is thrown right into the action. Sometimes that is an interesting choice for a novel, but in this case everything just went very fast, the villains were kind of flat, and the chapters were very short and sort of episodic. It was very plot based. Whit and Wisty narrate the story to the reader, which is ok, but their voices are a bit too ... stereotypical "teenager," is the best way I can describe it. Like, a little contrived, maybe?

I did not hate it, but I was expecting a little more grown up fantasy, I guess, especially from James Patterson, who regularly writes books for adults. I'll admit, I've only read one, and it was a long time ago, so I don't know his writing style well, but I know he writes a lot of detective stories. Not to say there is anything wrong with him writing this, but I see that it is not what I was looking for when I picked it up off the shelf.

Regarding how it made me feel about my 10th graders: I will say that reading this book made me feel better about the novel my 10th graders wrote for National Novel Writing Month and that I am working on final-editing so we can self publish it. Their main characters were all teens, too. The characters' way of speaking could have been more realistic in some cases (I thought, how many of you speak like this? Why are you making your characters speak like this?). Their novel was very plot-centric, with not a lot of character development, but there was some sporadic background information and some attempts at making the characters change or grow. The chapters were a bit longer than Patterson's, his being around 2-3 pages each, very choppy. My students' chapters were very episodic, too, but that's because I gave each person a different chapter and we tried to plan out the chapters by events that would happen in them so that it was easier for them to outline and write them in one month. The story itself was a little inconsistent in some places--I tried to amend some of that here and there without changing too much of what they wrote--but for forty 16-year-olds who are not all keen on writing, I was pretty proud of them. Patterson's novel was fast-paced, like theirs, with one thing popping up after another. I feel not so critical of them after reading his novel.

I am afraid that sounds cruel to Patterson, but really I think it's just that I expected something meant for older teens and adults. Geared toward younger teens, I'd say the story would definitely keep them reading. Perhaps the same can be said of my 10th graders' novel--geared toward their age group, it's definitely an action-packed story that, although it may not be the peak of literature, is enjoyable nonetheless.

P.S. Just after posting this, I found what looks like a graphic novel version of the book - I think that might work well. The artwork would be a fun addition and maybe the style of the story would work better in graphic novel form.