Love Is the Higher Law in Q&A with David Levithan

May 24, 2010 Julia rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, contemporary-fiction, glbtq

Written because Levithan’s 15 year old primary audience was 6 years old when the Towers fell, he has three teens tell about their experiences on that day and immediately after. Claire is a senior in HS and goes across the street to help in her second grade brother’s class. Peter, a friend of Claire’s, skipped school that morning to pick up Bob Dylan’s new album. Jasper, whose college didn’t start for two weeks, slept through it.

“The terrorists – those nineteen people, did the worst thing you ca ...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Claudia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012-book-challenge-160-books, contemporary-fiction

I cried all afternoon reading this one. Levithan obviously begins with his deep and abiding love for NYC and for the people who live there. His eye for kids and his ear for their words make this book, with its three narrators, ring true. His author's notes tell us some of the phrases come from his own emails at the time. I absolutely believe this brings that authenticity to the story. He was there, blocks from the Towers. He was in a city he adores, a city he watched change in an instant.

This bo I cried all afternoon reading this one. Levithan obviously begins with his deep and abiding love for NYC and for the people who live there. His eye for kids and his ear for their words make this book, with its three narrators, ring true. His author's notes tell us some of the phrases come from his own emails at the time. I absolutely believe this brings that authenticity to the story. He was there, blocks from the Towers. He was in a city he adores, a city he watched change in an instant.

This book is much-needed, for the exact reasons Levithan says: we must never forget. We near OKC are already seeing students who have no memory or understanding of the Murrah Building tragedy, and it won't be long before our memories of 9/11 will fade as well.

This story is told through the words of three friends: Jasper and Peter and Claire. They all are going about their morning when the world changed forever.

The strength in this book is in the details ONLY someone who was there would know: the papers that blew out of the building, the ash that permeated the air. The posters, the rain...the candles. The tacky tourists. This wasn't author research. This was author memories.

Claire's voice is the one I loved the most. Her search for goodness in others, for a purpose gave me the same kind of hope she found. Her connections with Peter and Jasper, and their connection and attraction to each other, were important, but she saw the potential for goodness, for lessons learned. It was her heart that was most dreadfully broken in the years after.

This book sent me to maps of NYC, and to the lyrics of the U2 song, "One". I had to understand everything these three beautiful children were experiencing.

And I cried -- again. I cried with the memories I hold of that day, and those weeks after. I cried for the war we started under false pretenses. I cried for these three, who tried to believe in the goodness of the adults around them, the adults who failed them.

"There is not one moment when that feeling of inadequate sorrow goes away. It just lessens and lessens until it is mostly a memory of itself"

"I honestly thought we were going to be better. After what happened. As a country."

"I don't know if you can change a country. You can only change the people." ...more

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Nov 24, 2009 Jessi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teen, historical-fiction, gbltc, death, friendship, tween, webinar

Usually, I wouldn't choose to read a book centered around 9/11. Something about reading for pleasure and not wanting to be depressed. I picked this book up because it is by David Levithan and I have been meaning to read more of his books, and I didn't realize the theme until later.

It really blew me away. The way that David twines the lives of three teenagers together after the attacks is masterful, as is the character building. At first, each of the three is like a shell, an incomplete person, b ...more

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May 31, 2010 Courtney rated it liked it

Shelves: the-latest

You never, ever go wrong with David Levithan, but this book was naturally quite painful to read, given the subject matter. Told from three distinct perspectives, Claire, Jasper and Peter, the details in this book transmit with painful clarity what New Yorkers felt during the days and months following September 11th.

I did feel it was a little hard to get attached to the characters, maybe because the perspective loops around a little (just when you are settling into one character, you go to anothe ...more

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Feb 18, 2014 David rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: youngadult, history, fiction, gayinterest, acquired, advocacy, 2014-books

Wow. Advocacy five. Short read, emotionally charged. The lives of three young New Yorkers on 11 September 2001 and following.

I like my books to either be funny or emotionally moving. While I can't say that this is a gut buster of a book, I certainly was moved. I remember what happened on that day although I was on the other side of the continent, and asleep. That's an inglorious response to the question "Where were you on September 11th when the planes hit the towers?" Thankfully one of the char ...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Jesse Richman rated it really liked it

I thought I would take a crack at reading this on 9/11, as sort of a tribute/remembrance. Big mistake; by the first 15 pages or so, I was so physically ill I had to put the book down for a few days. Call it a credit to Levithan's skill as a writer that he was able to churn my memories so viscerally.

That said, this book isn't about 9/11 the event, it's about what the events of 9/11 did to us, and what we did with it. I think it's something most of us have run through in our minds a thousand times ...more

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Oct 12, 2010 Aaron rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It was a very good book. It showed me the impact of 9/11 that I have never understood before. This book is a book that I would recommend to everyone except those of who hated the homosexuals or hated to hear about 9/11.

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Dec 30, 2009 elissa rated it really liked it

Shelves: survival_stories, historicalfiction, youngadult, my_00s_reads

Extremely quick read. Intertwined stories of 3 teens who were in NYC on 9/11. Love Levithan's explanation as to why he finally decided to write this, and he did an excellent job. ...more

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Jan 21, 2010 KC rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2010, lgbt, ya

David Levithan can be hysterical. He can also be incredibly touching. This is now my favorite book by him.

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Apr 16, 2010 Rebecca rated it it was amazing

Even though I'm not American and 9/11 didn't affect me directly at all, this book is one of the most emotionally touching I've ever read. It really opened my eyes. I've been a David Levithan fan for a long time now, and this just strengthened that even more. ...more

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Oct 18, 2010 Carolyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lgbtq-books-in-c-a-library

I love everything by David Levithan and this book is no exception. To my C-A Goodreads friends: we will be having a book club discussion about this book sometime soon. Come check out a copy.

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