“It's one thing to fall in love. It's another to feel someone else fall in love with you, and to feel a responsibility toward that love.” - David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan is a book that must be put into the hands of any teenager open to it. It's a stunning novel that dances back and forth across the lines between fantasy and realistic fiction, opening the reader up to the idea that even though the premise is so fantastical, maybe it could be possible. A, the protagonist, has grown up without a body. Every day, A lives the life of another person but only for a single day. One day, A wakes up as a boy and must live his life. The next day, A wakes up as that boy's female classmate, and has to live her life instead. But this isn't some cheesy, "you can always reinvent yourself" tale. Rather, this book is about the responsibility of taking on someone else's life and someone else's heart. Of course, this is David Levithan so there is a delightful, heart-wrenching romance and plenty of obstacles for A to maneuver. But the lessons learned around identity, the fragility of the heart, and the ways in which all of us build our identities every single day last well beyond the last page.

Of course, if you simply cannot bear to leave the world David Levithan's created, he's thankfully left us with a pairing (not quite a sequel, more a re-telling from the perspective of love-interest, Rhiannon). Another Day by David Levithan is an excellent follow up to the original. With romance, a rich vocabulary, and carefully constructed prose, Every Day is best for students with strong reading skills and (of course) open hearts.