Imagine having no identity – no sense of self, gender, race or even a name. In David Levithan’s novel “Every Day” that’s what the main character, simply known as A, has to experience. Every day of A’s life is lived differently, in somebody else’s body.
A has lived this way for all 16 years of life. Every day brings a new body, a new person, and A is forced to go through the motions.
One day it might be a jock, a cheerleader, a drug addict or an average kid who just plays video games. A is able to access their memories and knows what they know but cannot feel their emotions.
A has an age, but beyond that there is no identity, not even a pronoun.
A has developed a set of rules to go along with this ever-changing life. Don’t get attached, don’t make any decisions for this body and just stick to the person’s schedule and get through the day.
But one day, A makes a mistake and falls in love. From that point on, A’s rules and lifestyle become more difficult in the quest for a relationship that lasts longer than a day.
“Every Day” addresses real life issues that teens are dealing with, and the main character experiences the lives of teens struggling with sexual orientation, body image, depression, sex, love, drugs and drinking.
A’s unique perspective on life really brings to light the fact that everybody has a story and everybody is different.
A is struggling to find out who A is, which at some point in their lives is an issue most people have dealt with.
Levithan gives a new spin on the old philosophical questions of “Who am I?” and “Why are we all here?”
Within minutes of picking up the book I was unable to put in down, and when I flipped the last page, I found myself wanting to read more.
There is so much to take away from this book, and it is unlike anything I have ever read. “Every Day” is available at the Halle Library for checkout.
