YA A to Z: David Levithan

 Why I chose David Levithan:

In fall  of 2003, I had just finished graduate school and was working at The Children’s Book Shop in Brookline, Massachusetts (far and away my favorite job ever). I was a big fan of LGBTQ YA books, just as I am now, so whenever a new title would come in, I’d snap it up. I read Boy Meets Boy, then (probably) proceeded to make my coworkers crazy as I read passages out loud to them. I adored this book that was set in an extremely gay-friendly town. The protagonist, Paul, doesnʼt have to come to terms with being gay; he just is. He says, “Iʼve always known I was gay, but it wasnʼt confirmed until I was in kindergarten. It was my teacher who said so. It was right there on my kindergarten report card: PAUL IS DEFINITELY GAY AND HAS A VERY GOOD SENSE OF SELF.” Paul is neither lonely nor alone. Multiple love interests make Paulʼs life more complex, not to mention the colorful friends in his life (like Infinite Darlene—once Daryl—the star quarterback and schoolʼs most popular drag queen). I’ve read everything Levithan has written, but Boy Meets Boy remains my absolute favorite of his books.

Brief biography (from Levithan’s website):

I find it downright baffling to write about myself, which is why I’m considering it somewhat cruel and usual to have to write this brief bio and to update it now and then. The factual approach (born ’72, Brown ’94, first book ’03) seems a bit dry, while the emotional landscape (happy childhood, happy adolescence – give or take a few poems – and happy adulthood so far) sounds horribly well-adjusted. The only addiction I’ve ever had was a brief spiral into the arms of diet Dr Pepper, unless you count My So-Called Life episodes as a drug. I am evangelical in my musical beliefs.

When not writing during spare hours on weekends, I am a publisher and editorial director at Scholastic, and the founding editor of the PUSH imprint, which is devoted to finding new voices and new authors in teen literature

Works (from Wikipedia):

Boy Meets Boy (2003)

The Realm of Possibility (2004)

Are We There Yet? (2005)

Marly’s Ghost: A Remix of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, illustrated by Brian Selznick (2005)

Wide Awake (2006)

How They Met (2008)

Love Is the Higher Law (2009)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-written with John Green (2010)

The Lover’s Dictionary (2011)

Every You, Every Me (2011)

Every Day (2012)

Invisibility, co-written with Andrea Cremer (2013)

Two Boys Kissing (2013)

Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story (scheduled for release in March 2015)

With Rachel Cohn

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2006)

Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List (2007)

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares (2010)

With David Ozanich and Chris Van Etten

Likely Story (2008)

All That Glitters (2008)

Red Carpet Riot (2009)

Plus various anthologies edited and short pieces (see Wikipedia page)

Find David Levithan online:

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Twitter

Website

If you like David Levithan, check out these authors:

Nina LaCour, Rachel Cohn, Alex Sanchez, Brent Hartinger, Ellen Wittlinger

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#YAAtoZ Schedule: Week 1 4: A ; 5: B ; 6: C ; 7: D  Week 2 10: E ; 11: F ; 12: G, H, I ; 13: J, K ; 14: L  Week 3 17: M ; 18: N, O ; 19: P, Q ; 20: R, S ; 21: T  Week 4 24: U ; 25: V, W ; 26: X ; 27: Y ; 28: Z

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