The quotation on the front of this book from Entertainment Weekly is true..."Wise, wildly unique."
"A," the narrator and protagonist of this book is a traveler. His consciousness lives for a day in the body/mind of another human being. Each day a different one. Male, female, GLBT, fat, think, depressed, silly, artistic, athletic, mean, generous.... A has learned to adapt to this nomadic life. He moves through each savoring what is good and trying to do no harm. Sort of accelerated reincarnation.
Until...he meets a girl.
Then, he is drawn to a place, drawn to a person, no longer completely nomadic.
Levithan tells a wonderful story that will encourage all readers to consider point of view and moral choices. Those of you unfamiliar with Levithan's work should be alert that he is one of the writers most loved by GLBT youth for offering them realistic (or semi-fantasy) literature to help them cope with their lives. He has written spectacular books and brings joy to readers--including straight readers. Levithan's writing is a marvel. There are many fragments, sentences, phrases, paragraphs that I will treasure of many years. (I fact--I probably need to reread it immediately and begin recording them. I'm torn--there are several teachers whom I would like to loan the book to right away.
I won't say too much--this book needs to be discovered on its own by each reader. Just be prepared to lose yourself. Don't begin it when you have big responsibilities looming! You'll miss deadlines.
