Every Day

Every day, A inhabits a different teenager's body. A has been male, female, gay, and straight, but (s)he has never been in love until (s)he meets Rhiannon. Levithan tackles sexuality and acceptance as A balances personal desire with ethical behavior. Narrator Alex McKenna chronicles A's attempts to reconnect with Rhiannon while coping with an ever-changing physical identity. The first thing listeners will note is McKenna's throaty vocal quality, which is akin to laryngitis. This distracting effect is a barrier that prevents full connection to the text. That problem, along with a slow start, means that listeners will be well into the story before they can appreciate McKenna's emotional range and subtle handling of an introspective main character. Humor well delivered may help balance a problematic vocal choice. C.A. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Starred review from October 29, 2012
Imagine waking up every morning in a different body, with a different personality, and a different life. This is reality for A, who experiences a new beginning every day of his life. And while A has come to accept this fate, when he awakens to meet the woman of his dreams, he decides he must find a way to break the cycle. Leviathan’s entertaining and imaginative novel comes to life in this inspired reading by Alex McKenna. Despite the fact that A is a male, the female McKenna brilliantly captures the character, adding nuance and depth. The narrator’s delivery is confident, emotive, and captivating—at times it sounds as if she is reading from her own diary. The result is truly memorable listening. Ages 12–up. A Knopf hardcover.

July 9, 2012
Is it possible to disregard someone’s exterior to see—and love—that person’s true, interior self? That’s just one of the provocative questions Levithan (Every You, Every Me) asks in a novel that follows “A,” who takes over the body of a different person each day at midnight. Right around A’s 6,000th day on the planet, A meets Rhiannon—girlfriend of current host body Justin—and falls in love. A is careful not to disrupt the lives of the bodies he/she inhabits (A doesn’t identify as male or female), but that starts to change as A pursues Rhiannon. Levithan sets up the rules of this thought experiment carefully: A only hops between the bodies of teenagers (who all live fairly near each other), and A can access their memories. As a result, the story unfolds smoothly (the regular shifts between bodies give the novel a natural momentum), but it’s also less ambitious. Despite the diverse teens A inhabits, A’s cerebral, wiser-than-thou voice dominates, in much the same way A directs the lives of these teens for 24 hours. Ages 12–up. Agent: Bill Clegg, William Morris Endeavor.