Realm of Possibility
by David Levithan
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In each of the five chapters, we meet four teenagers solely through his or her own works of poetry. Using this particular device of first person storytelling through prose, Levithan masterfully lends voices to 20 wildly different teenagers. What resonates most truly in Realm is the authenticity of each of those voices. For his characters Levithan never takes the easy way out, never yields to an overwrought stereotype of American adolescence. Pete is handsome, a superior athlete whose popular...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
adults seeking to understand high school students
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Though it is "Young Adult," I would recommend it for a more mature reader. It is written entirely in poetry, though the types of poems vary. Each chapter represents the voice of a different student in the high school. It does a good job of portraying the wide variety of people in a high school. Having said that, I do think it puts too much emphasis on homosexuality. The Crash-esque feel of the book (all the characters' stories are interconnected) ...more
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The Realm of Possibility follows high school students through their school life. Written entirely in poetry, the book is split up into five parts. Each part has four sub-parts. Each sub-part focuses on one person.
This book has some amazing poetry in it. Each person has a distinctive style, making this book an interesting and fun read. However, at first I could not get what the names on the front page of each chapter meant. Also, the sub-parts are hard to follow, because the poetry is writte...more
This book has some amazing poetry in it. Each person has a distinctive style, making this book an interesting and fun read. However, at first I could not get what the names on the front page of each chapter meant. Also, the sub-parts are hard to follow, because the poetry is writte...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommended to Claudia by:
Laurarecommends it for: My novels-in-verse fans
OMG! Levithan is a genius. This book, a novel in verse, has 20 narrators, all students at the same high school. Each tells his or her own story, and they all are inter-related. Some are friends, some are enemies, some are romantic interests. As always, Levithan includes gay and lesbian characters with respect and affection. Each student has a distinctive voice and we grow to love all of them. To fully see the relationships, I created a chart to show whose story was whose, who they liked and didn...more
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Read in December, 2007
It seems that different types of ideas were expressed through poetry for each student. This act like a school of voices. These voices are different because of the possibilities are endless. Although, the ideas were different such as: one wrote about how his girlfriend is obsessive with Holden Caulfield and another may mention about smoking. There is still a connection in between these thoughts- they are possibilities that affects us in our daily lives. It is interesting how the last piece ...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
high school survivors past and present
This prose poetry novel looks at high school life from the perspective of several students at one school. It is lovely, lyrical, occasionally painful and overwrought...just like being a teenager. I really like this book now (as an adult) but I would have LOVED this book when I was in high school. LOVED IT. I would have read it repeatedly, and forced others to read it, and quoted it ad nauseum. I would have tried to write my own book just like it. David Levithan is one of the few teen writ...more
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Read in October, 2006
What one perceives as "doing the right thing" another might experience as a rejuvinating act of kindness. The beautiful people may also be inclined to cover their bodies with green-marker words until they find meaning in their lives. 1 high school, 21 voices. These are stories we know on the surface, the fragile anorexic, the gay couple that met in art class, the girl whose mom has cancer, the goth that writes on the walls. But like a Fauvist painter, Levithan weaves their bright color...more
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Read in November, 2007
I actually liked this quite a bit, but the low rating is for the unwieldy format. It's 20 interrelated prose-poems, each from a different character's POV, and as the book progresses we pick up different plotlines through hints back to earlier events in earlier poems (though some go nowhere, and that really annoyed me). The poems are a bit hit and miss in quality, and the stories they tell are the same, but there's a lot of heart in the characters. I particularly liked Anton and Gail's story -...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
teens, fans of novels-in-verse, love
I almost gave up on this book. The first section is kind of slow and one poem borders on being too emo-unrequited-love for me, but the second section is full of gems and so is the rest of the novel. The concept is great, creating different voices out of different poetic forms is handled very well in Levithan's hands.
Some of my favorites:
"My girlfriend is in love with Holden Caulfield"
"Suburban Myths"
"Fragments"
"the day"
"Writing"...more
Some of my favorites:
"My girlfriend is in love with Holden Caulfield"
"Suburban Myths"
"Fragments"
"the day"
"Writing"...more
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I love the writing style of this book. Everything is written in poetic stanzas and the narration is unknown. Everything is from first person point of view. This book is about several different teenagers who has a story to tell, with their own voice to give in this book. What I like about the writing style is that the whole book is left in interpretation for the reader, therefore it can be about anyting. one of the lines i like from the book is "lying awake beside you, these thoughts run thr...more
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Read in December, 2007
I really like this book. At first it was a little confusing because I didn't really know what poems were about which characters but I got used to it. I read Levithan's other book "Boy Meets Boy" and I also thought it was pretty good. Both books were written differently and I liked how his style is kind of versitile. This book had 20 different characters all going to the same school, but each had their own problems and revelations. This book was good and I hope Levithan comes up wi...more
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Read in February, 2008
A novel in verse from teh perspective of maybe a dozen different highschool students. Well-written and compelling. The novel begins and ends with a gay relationship and there is a lesbian one in teh middle. There is one wholly inappropriate poem because it takes place in somewhere similar to spencers but worse. There are drugs and eating disorders dealt with, self destructive--all in all I'm sure it sounds like a terrible book. Compelling though. I think I liked the medium more than anything.
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A story told via a series of poems. The poems are written by various characters in a group of friends and acquaintances in a high school. The characters come from a diverse spectrum of experience and identity (sexuality, class, race, gender, etc.) and most of the poems deal with love in some way. It may be difficult to keep track of all the characters and their relationships to each other. Still, Levithan is able to capture each character's voice well.
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Read in November, 2007
I'm falling in love with David Levithan.
This is an absolutely wonderful YA novel. It is from 20 beautifully melded perspectives of students who go to the same high school. It is written in free verse poetry, song lyrics and rants. Each story is perfect in its own way. I'll admit that after the eighth story I had to make myself a chart of characters and keep track of their relationships to one another to help myself keep everyone straight.
This is an absolutely wonderful YA novel. It is from 20 beautifully melded perspectives of students who go to the same high school. It is written in free verse poetry, song lyrics and rants. Each story is perfect in its own way. I'll admit that after the eighth story I had to make myself a chart of characters and keep track of their relationships to one another to help myself keep everyone straight.
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Read in January, 2006
A book in verse, each poem is told from the perspective of a different character, each of whom is part of a larger group of friends and acquaintances. There is a wide range of perspectives here including diversity in race, gender, sexuality, social groups. There are 20 poems in all and there is an interesting mix of form showcasing each. Some may find it difficult to figure out all the connections between all the characters.
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Casy by:
Regen
I really like this book even though its a bit confusing. David Levithan's poetry explores every aspect, version and interpretation of love. His characters are very different from each other yet all are realistic and easy to relater to. While I personally am straight, I still appreciate it when authors portray gays and lesbians as normal people and do not mold them to the current stereotypes.
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Read in June, 2006
recommends it for:
every teenager on earth
I love poetry. Not stuff that rhymes or has six thousand metaphors, but good poetry. I'm talking about the kinds of poems where you know exactly what's going on, relate to it, and feel more emotions than the author even tells you about. This book is that good. And the poem The Day? Pure genius. (the lines are put together in alphabetical order.)
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Read in March, 2007
This is a story about a bunch of high schoolers and their interactions with each other. The POV switches each chapter to another character, and I had trouble keeping track of who was who and how they were connected. Also, it's almost entirely written in "poetry" which can be effective in some books, but was just annoying here.
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Read in June, 2006
This is a collection 20 poems, each told by another high school student. They don't focus around the same event or even the same period in time. Just 20 takes on life in high school, with some inter-related stories.
A nice read that well-captures the high school experience.
A nice read that well-captures the high school experience.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2008
This book was a real page-turner. My english teacher always says that about books =) It had a really unique structure and all the characters had their individual voices and personalities. They also all connected with eachother. I'd suggest this to any high school student
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