Every Day by David Levithan

Author: David Levithan
Genre: Coming of age, science fiction?
Rating: 9
Teach-ability: 7
Teachable Aspects: Character Development, Narrators, Unreliable Narrators?

This book was like a breath of fresh air. Really. It was fast pasted, engaging and was on a topic that I have never read before.

The main character is called A. A does not have a gender. A does not have a body. A is basically a soul, who borrows the bodies of various teenagers in the state of Maryland. A is able to access information about its inhabitants: Name, family life, where their cell phone is, etc, and is forced to go through their day. It has always been this way.

All is dandy, until A falls in love.

The story that follows makes the reader stop and think. Does this happen? Why are some days easier to remember than others. Why can I remember in sharp detail every moment of my 5th birthday when that boy climbed to the top of the tree, but I am unable to remember very well other days that are just as important--my first day of high school, my first day of college, the day I passed my driver's test, I cannot remember if it meant saving my life...

Another neat thing about this book is that the main character does not have a gender. So, when the main character falls in love with a girl, we cannot assume that the narrator is a male, because it goes on dates with her in all types of bodies: large, small, male and female. The book is all about the inside of a person, and in an age where it seems as though the important thing is the shell of a person, a narrator who is just the inside of a person is refreshing.

I would absolutely recommend this book to pretty much anyone. It is not a "boy book" nor is it a "girl book". There is love, mystery, growing up and being a kid. Levithan's writing is fast paced and it is intriguing. It is clean and leaves you wanting to read more.