“Some days I'm only passing through. Some days are all hello; some days are all goodbye. Some days I have no idea what I am supposed to be doing, and other days it's abundantly clear, as if the person I am for a day has left me a note, left me instructions"

The completist in me is glad I read this, but if I wasn't still coasting on the interest built up from reading Every Day recently, this wouldn't hold much interest. The stories are real short and simple, and although the purpose is meant to be to show another varied handful of days out of A's life, the ones here feel a lot like the ones in the book, and they even repeat each other a little.

I was curious what they would be like, before I read this, so I'll explain for the sake of those who feel that way. Just in case anyone cares, I'll put the premises behind spoilers.

We get:

Spoiler

1. A's best 10th birthday, with some good big-sister bonding.
2. A at 7, a neglected child with a sullen, strict parent.
3. A is about 15 (extrapolating from the "day" number) and spends the day chatting with the girl's best friend over the internet. It's unclear if there is something more to their relationship.
4. A is 16 and an athlete.
5. A is 16 and a boy who spends all day with his best friend, who asks for something more from their relationship.
6. A is 16 and a boy who spends all day with his best friend, who asks for something more from their relationship.

Nope, that's right -- two of these stories sound exactly the same! And they're not, you know, the same, but no denying they are out of the same aisle of the grocery store. But both of them are good, and #6 especially brings a lot of depth to the collection and makes it worth reading.

The others are far less substantial: A pontificates on being an athlete and having a strong body; A pontificates on having long-distance friends (and disappoints me yet again by dismissing internet friends as an impossible option).

#2 was the most interesting premise by far, but it was short and not a lot happened in the story. In general I'd have welcomed reading a lot more about A's childhood. The questions and pathos of it interests me a lot. They stand out sort of oddly here -- they are written in A's current voice, almost like a journal entry about the memory, in retrospect for our benefit, rather than the voice or perspective of an actual child. It reads okay, but it makes me think that Levithan is not very interested in A's experience as a kid, which is too bad because I am.

I want to believe that Levithan is an author who knows more than he writes into the story, but I don't exactly believe that's true here. I suspect there's a lot he isn't sure of, and that it's one reason the scope of the stories is so narrow. Maybe in time he will explore a bit more.

Anyway, I'm really glad I could check this out from the library! Hurray.

Great companion

I read "Every Day" a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The concept always stuck with me. This is a great supplement read. It's 6 stories, 6 lives that A finds themselves in. No resolutions, just snippets of time.

i liked it as a way to get into the main book's topic. It was a very quick read and i liked some of the glimpses of stories, so i'm sad we don't get to read more of them

The stories were nice enough, but I was really hoping for a little more insight into A's character and I felt like this collection didn't really add much.

A abrir o apetite para a obra original.

Sssssoooooooooo. Good. I freaking love David Levithan. I thought "Everyday" was the most amazing premise for a book and I am so very glad I got just a tiny bit more of A.

Someday I may even be able to accomplish the feat that Levithan asks of me as the reader...maybe I will be able to think of A as a girl or a an Asian boy or as a Hispanic female with Down's Syndrome or a boy who is overweight to the point of ridicule or a disabled female...anything other than that which society has conditioned me to see...a white boy with a white girl or some other pre-fab partnering.

Excuse me while I go and get all of Levithan's other books to read. : >

This isn't a "Book 2". This is more a "Book 0" or "Book 0.5". It is a very short (30-40 pages?) worth of text describing 6 of A's days prior to the start of the main story in Book 1. Reads as well as the other books in this "series" but doesn't add much to A's depth or the story so while it is fun to read it wouldn't be worth desperately trying to get your hands on it before reading Book 3.

"They cannot be homes to me. They must be hotel rooms."

This short story tells of six earlier days in "A"'s life before every day. The dates of these days range from earlier in life to days closer to the full novel. As with every day, "A" is in different genders and different sexualities, with the purpose of staying true to the body and also being a little "A."

Again, Levithan does a beautiful job of narration, making the reader feel for each person "A" inhabits. He has such a way with words and draws the reader in and closer to his characters. Since I continue to love every day, this was another great little read for me to visit "A" again.