The Realm of Possibility

The Realm of Possibility

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4.01 of 5 stars 4.01  ·  rating details  ·  5,690 ratings  ·  485 reviews
One school. Twenty voices.

Endless possibilities.

There's the girl who is in love with Holden Caulfield. The boy who wants to be strong who falls for the girl who's convinced she needs to be weak. The girl who writes love songs for a girl she can't have. The two boys teetering on the brink of their first anniversary. And everyone in between.

As he did in the highly acclaimed...more
Paperback, 210 pages
Published May 9th 2006 by Ember (first published August 10th 2004)
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Tatiana
Aug 31, 2010 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of books in verse
Shelves: ala-ya-2005, verse, ya, 2010
I didn't know this novel was written in verse when I borrowed it from my library, but no matter, I love the format and David Levithan certainly has solid poetry-writing skills.

The Realm of Possibility is a collection of 20 stories told by the students of the same school, each written in its distinct voice and style - song lyrics, linebroken prose, free verse, etc.

These stories and lives are interconnected in very interesting and often unconventional ways. It is a pleasant surprise that Levithan...more
Claudia
Apr 29, 2008 Claudia rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: My novels-in-verse fans
Recommended to Claudia by: Laura
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
Derek
This collection of poems and prose was tender and sweet and wonderful. As I read these stories I could hear the voices in the hallway. The goth, the metal head, the bible toter, the bitchy popular girl, etc. I wanted to know who these kids were and who they were talking about. What is great bout Levithan is that he let's you know who the characters are speaking of and then you can find out his/her point of view. Haven't we all felt at least one of these emotions? Dealt with love? Loss? I would l...more
Sarah (YA Love)
I’m a huge fan of David Levithan’s work. Until The Realm of Possibility I’ve only read one of David’s stand-alone books- Boy Meets Boy. I’ve read many of his dual-author books like Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson. His characters are always honest, witty and laugh-out-loud funny. The Realm of Possibility shows a much different side to David’s writing ability. It shows a writing ability and style that makes me want more (not that I d...more
Alarra
Nov 22, 2007 Alarra rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: gblt, ya
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 - I...more
Laurel May
Oh my God. What a breathtaking, spectacular book this is! This is my first David Levithan book (excluding Will Grayson, will grayson) and I am so impressed I will be reading all his other books definitely.
So this is also my first book written in verse and I wasn't entirely sure I would be able to connect with it. Not only that, but also it was written about 20 different students! I thought it would be impossible to keep up, but that wasn't the case. The stories all intercepted well with each ot...more
Katie
Twenty teen voices sound off in twenty eclectic poems, and the effect is a rousing chorus of love and life in one high school community. The monologues gently unfold interwoven stories of friendship, romance, grief, unrequited crushes, and sexual experimentation that exhibit an authentic sense of teen angst but also convey remarkable optimism. The diverse characters constantly challenge their stereotypes: the buff jock who shows genuine tenderness toward his troubled girlfriend, the mean girl wh...more
Leslie
Name: Leslie Short

APA citation: Levithan, D. (2004). The realm of possibility. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.

Genre: Poetry

Format: Print

Selection process: Booklist review; ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults

Review:

The Realm of Possibility is a collection of poems that introduces and tells the story of twenty kids going to the same high school. Besides attending the same high school, all of these students are all linked together. Daniel writes about his boyfriend Jed and their anniversary...more
Mike Wlodarczyk
I rather enjoyed this read. I feel as though Levithan did an amazing job with this book and I will definitely read more of his work. Some plus sides of this book: it's written verse. For some reason I find books in verse to be a more satisfying read, that's just me. The characters are all very interesting and reminded me of real people. The writing style is absolutely phenomenal. It is a very quick read and not very difficult to read at all. Some down sides: far too many characters for such a sm...more
Nicole
The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan is a book of poetry around several different people, all high school students. They all have poems about what’s going on that’s a big impact on their life. And that mainly turns out to be love. Daniel writes about Jed and how they smoke together. Diana writes love songs for Elizabeth, but from what is comprehensible of them, Elizabeth will never know how much she means to Diana. Anton writes of the crocodiles in the sewers of Bloomfield Hills. And how t...more
Lisa Tsuruda
My former student Nick introduced me to Realm last year as one of his favorite books and I found it amazing! Told through the perspective of 20 students in the same school through highly confessional free verse poems, I was highly engaged to figure out the relationships between and among them all. He dissects and magnifies various relationships of friendship and love (both gay and straight) and the web that binds everyone together. I was most interested in the first poem “Smoking” and the last p...more
Sandy
I picked this up at the library because I really liked his work in Will Grayson Will Grayson with John Green. I almost put it down right away when I realized that it was all written in poetry since I really disliked the only other narrative YA poetry books I've read (Hopkins). But, I'm glad I didn't. This was great--little sections and snapshots from different, sometimes overlapping stories. The poetry adds some interesting layers to what I know about the characters, and I really liked it. Some...more
Nicolle
First and foremost before I review this book I just want to say that I just had the privelage of reading "Everyday" by David Levithan and I LOVED it. I actually went out and bought this book because I was so impressed with his other work. I feel bad giving this book one star but I just thought this book was a mess. I felt that the writing was distracting and the characters too shallow to even give a hoot about any of them. I get the whole teenager/high school/ life lessons but I could not connec...more
Melinda
Melinda Dye - Poetry

"The Realm of Possibility" is a fictional novel that features teens who tell their stories, some painful, some full of faith and joy, all written in verse. The poems all come full circle in the end, revealing secrets and worries, hopes and fears, and when two are involved, show both sides of the story. There's Mary, suffering from anorexia and too scared to ask for help; Gail, a girl of deep faith who sees the good in all people; Daniel, experiencing acceptance and love in hi...more
Richie Partington
28 November 2003 THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY by David Levithan, Random House/Knopf, August 2004, ISBN 0-375-82845-1

"...I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living
Alive, alive, I want to get up and jive
I want to wreck my stockings in some juke box dive
Do you want - do you want - do you want
To dance with me baby
Do you want to take a chance
On maybe finding some sweet romance with me baby
Well, come on..."
--Joni Mitchell, All I Want

(Jed)
"Here's what I know about the realm of...more
Caroline
I don't know how David Levithan does it. But he does.

This book may look odd at first. You flip through the pages and find that it looks more like a collection of poetry than a novel. But that's the beauty of it. The unique quirkiness of it that allows for 210 pages of words floating along a river of human emotions. Or something like that.

I found myself trying to keep track of the name of the character while reading each poem-like prose. But as I went on, I realized I didn't need to try so hard...more
Colby
Dec 23, 2011 Colby rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who enjoy verse novels
How to describe this book...
It's about a bunch of people.
Who go to the same school. And they talk about stuff. So much is covered in this book, such as eating disorders, boys who feel the need to be big and strong, sex, homosexuality, and all that jazz. There are 20 different voices, one for each 'chapter'. Basically, the reason this gets such a low rating is that the characters would each talk for about ten pages (which, in verse, isn't very much.) and then it would move on to the next characte...more
Christina (Reading Thru The Night)
the realm of possibility (all lowercase, peeps) is a novel of twelve teens all written individually in poetry as prose. Each chapter opens with the names of four different characters and their stories follow. You've got the chick who loves Holden Caulfield and her boyfriend who is just over it because OBVIOUSLY he cannot compete. You've got the gay teen who found love for the first time and is about to celebrate a first anniversary... (OR) one of my favorites, the girl who goes from writing on h...more
Chelsea
When I bought this novel I didn't realize it didn't have just one narrator. In fact, this book has twenty different narrators. But David Levithan does an amazing job of keeping each of their stories separate, easy to follow, and each with a completely different and moving style of writing. In the future, his ability to make so many complex characters, each with an equally strong voice, will be something I turn towards when trying to write anything from alternating points of view. Since all the n...more
dee
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Chelsey
This book is purely amazing. I got it because of the cover, honestly, and then I looked inside and just skimmed a few pages and saw that it wasn't what I thought it might be. It wasn't the normal formatting for a book. Some of it was written like a poem. Some in small paragraphs, some had single words in one line. So it intrigued me.

I started reading and I made it through the book in no time. It's really a thick book for the small amount of writing inside of it. It wasn't all that great. I kind...more
Alana Massa
David Levithan has done it again. He has written about a large spectrum of topics that most authors shy away from. After reading several of his novels I have found a common theme of homosexuality. This book is filled with poems written from the standpoint of teenagers. These twenty or so teens write about subjects that teens face everyday, in every city, of every state, in every country around the world. Teenage love,homosexuality, smoking, alcohol,peer rivalry and peer pressure. Who hasn't thou...more
Mikey T
Getting what you want is just as difficult as not getting what you want. Because then you have to figure out what to do with it instead of figuring out what to do without it.
The Realm of Possibility is a novel that uses free verse to allow us into a realm of characters that are looking to discover themselves through love.
A lot of this book has to do with finding out one’s identity. From the girl who wants to find herself after being hit in the face with a lunch tray to the message-writing gir...more
Jennifer Conner
"Here's what I know about the realm of possibility-- it is alwys expanding, it is never what you think it is.Everything around us was once deemed impossible...And yet, every day we each do so many things that were once impossible to us." This book is filled with poems straight from the mind of teenagers. These twenty or so youths write many poems about pressing topics on the mind of teenagers everywhere. The subjects of their work include: teenage love, peer pressure, homosexuality, smoking, alc...more
Joshua Coots
The Realm of Possibility is a slice of a tall cake. You can see the stacked layers, the parts that make up the total construct. Some of the stories were excellent, giving a detailed look into the lives and thoughts of seemingly real adolescents. Others were merely mediocre, spinning predictable anecdotes or running a full head of steam into nothing at all. In a way, the latter parts fit with some aspects of growing up, though that is a stretch to assume that it will be understood that way by the...more
Andrea Falbo
This series of vignettes on the lives of everyday students at a high school is written in free verse from each student's perspective. Through their individual story, you can begin to understand how their life intersects with the other students who are telling their own story. This in depth look at the lives of teenagers and their triumphs and tribulations could have been about any teenager anywhere. All teenagers should read this book. All students will be able to relate to one or more of the ch...more
Rachel
The Realm of Possibility is a novel of poems written by several different students who are connected by the same high school. Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that each story is intertwined with others in the book. In this way, it almost seems as if the reader is able to quietly peek through the journals of several of the students in a single high school and learn about the trials and tribulations facing each student.

I can appreciate the creative genius of this text. In fact, I've never re...more
Kristen
I rated the realm of possibilty as a two-star because most of the time I was not into the book. I found myself just reading to get through the assignmet and I was thrilled how quickly that happened (less than two hours). I felt disconnected from the characters so I did not get into the story, but I greatly appreciate some of the conventions the author used. The fact that he was able to swtich back and forth between point of views from and you get each individual characters insight is really nea...more
Jessica Grabert
The Realm of Possibility is poetry. Probably like any volume of poetry, some of it is top notch, and some of it is terrible. I thought more of it was terrible than top notch. I also thought another problem with the poems was that the characters the poems were about/written by were supposed to interlock. They didn't always do that, at least not clearly. I also get irritated because David Levithan seems to exist on the same sappy, unrealistic cloud the guy who wrote Perks of Being A Wallflower l...more
God  O'Wax
In twenty poems in twenty different voices and styles, this book lays out what it means to be a teenager. Loves are begun, continued, and ended, friendships are formed, changed, and lost. The characters’ stories intersect and merge in expected and unexpected ways, and out of twenty different stories, one complete picture emerges of the relationships bred among a high school class. Themes include fitting in and breaking out, friends, family relationships, body image, religion, sex and most freque...more
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David Levithan (born 1972) is an American children's book editor and award-winning author. He published his first YA book, Boy Meets Boy, in 2003. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a Young Adult imprint of Scholastic Press.

More about David Levithan...
Every Day Boy Meets Boy The Lover's Dictionary Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List Love Is the Higher Law

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