Love Is the Higher Law

Sep 05, 2010 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is my first Levithan novel.... I know is probably a surprise to some of you. (sorry Khy... are you proud of me.. I read one!) But I have to say I'll definitely be picking up his novels... and even plan to do so in the near future, with Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Any way back to the novel at hand. This novel really stuck a cord with me. I honestly cried while reading most of it... ok, i cried through the entire thing actually. Thank god it wasn't all that long. I guess I just remember that d...more This is my first Levithan novel.... I know is probably a surprise to some of you. (sorry Khy... are you proud of me.. I read one!) But I have to say I'll definitely be picking up his novels... and even plan to do so in the near future, with Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Any way back to the novel at hand. This novel really stuck a cord with me. I honestly cried while reading most of it... ok, i cried through the entire thing actually. Thank god it wasn't all that long. I guess I just remember that day all too well. I like Jasper almost slept through the entire thing. Not that I could have seen the towers from my house in Indiana, but I remember waking up around 9 o'clock... I had an exam that day... I was a college freshman. I got online and as soon as I did my Aunt told me to turn on the television. I was home alone, both of my parents were at work for the day and my sisters were in school. I turned on the television to a live news feed, right as the second plane hit the towers. I still remember that image like it was yesterday. I never would have commuted to school that day had I not had an exam. The campus was deserted... there were televisions on every floor in every building... we took our exam and our professor excused us. The rest of my classes were cancelled that day. I remember the way the air felt that day.... it stood still. If it was like that some 650 miles from New York... I can't even imagine what it must have been like there.

To watch it happen from the eyes of these three characters was almost too much.... I felt like I was right there with them. I felt their confusion, their anxiety, their worry... their despair. I loved how every character had a distinct voice... how they all dealt with the aftermath in the only way they knew how. I loved watching their three different stories intertwined into one. How in the end they were connected more than they could have possibly fathomed.

It was beautifully told, with an important message.

And it's always an inspiration to be reminded of the goodness humanity is capable of.(less)

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Nov 15, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Huge thanks to the girl who sat next to me on the bus to Chicago from ALA. She had this ARC in her hands when she boarded the bus for our 3 1/2 hour trip home, and she finished it by the time the trip was over. When I asked how she liked it, she nodded, I believe, then swallowed a lump in her throat, and offered me the book. Once again, thank you!

Do you remember where you were on 9/11? The characters in LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW were a...more Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Huge thanks to the girl who sat next to me on the bus to Chicago from ALA. She had this ARC in her hands when she boarded the bus for our 3 1/2 hour trip home, and she finished it by the time the trip was over. When I asked how she liked it, she nodded, I believe, then swallowed a lump in her throat, and offered me the book. Once again, thank you!

Do you remember where you were on 9/11? The characters in LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW were all in New York City. So was David Levithan, and that experience was inspiration for this book. As Levithan points out in the Author's Note, many young people today may be too young to have first-hand memories of that world-changing day. By reading the experiences of Jasper, Peter, and Claire, perhaps the emotions of that day and its aftermath can be experienced by readers in the years to come.

As the book begins, each character shares where they were and what it was like at the moment. Peter and Claire were affected immediately, while Jasper finds it difficult to admit that he slept through the actual attack and learned about it as he listened to Peter Jennings on the news.

The personal experiences of the three become intertwined as the story continues. All three are surprised at how directly they feel the emotions of the event. The life they once took for granted, the city they've always known as home, and the atmosphere surrounding them have them asking questions that have no real answers.

David Levithan captures the unique yet universal feelings inspired by the event that touched us all. Amidst the unanswered questions are feelings of greater appreciation for family and friends, the sympathy that goes out to those who lost and suffered most, and the human condition that connects the entire world.

Unlike the teen who read the book in one sitting on the bus, I found the need to set it aside at times to sort through my own memories of that day and what has unfolded since. The world is truly a different place, and I've concluded I'm not sure if it is for the better or worse. Time will tell. (less)

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Oct 01, 2012 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: realistic-fiction, q

One of my first vivid memories was watching a playback of the second tower crumble into nothingness as New Yorkers ran with binders and folders over their heads, completely covered in gray filth as if death had devoured them and spit them back out into the world. There was tension between my parents for some reason, and I could tell that they wee trying to controll themselves in front of me and my brother. I didn't think about what was happening much untill I saw 9/11 in a history textbook. It f...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Greg rated it 2 of 5 stars

Love makes me think about how we digest media about recent events. They give books, movies, music, etc. this boost of poignance, but is that because we've lived through the event in question? Will that spark be there in 50 years? I'm thinking specifically of World War II novels and movies. There's a lot. It seems obvious that the answer would be no. That our temporal proximity to the event increases how we view the work. The passages about 9/11 made my heart thump a little faster and made me bre...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Fatma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Loved! (aside from the gayness), this book is very unexpected !! Loved Claire, her point of view in the story was my favorite, she was surprisingly philosophical and her thoughts were very well oriented. She knew what to say and when to say it.

You just know a good book is good when you want to highlight most of it.

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Apr 30, 2013 Zemon rated it 2 of 5 stars

Perhaps, a 2.5 will do.

The book was definitely okay. Uhhh. I guess I didn't really know that much about the 9/11 bombing yet while reading, images of some video footage I've watched before came flashing through my mind.

I guess the book was more on Jasper and Peter's love story and Claire's great depression on not moving on about the 9/11 incident. Claire also became this "bridge" which connected Jasper and Peter through their awkwardness. I guess I'm just into these types of books.

I think t...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fic

Short novel chronicling the lives of three teens in the aftermath of 9/11.

In Sliding Doors, the whole idea is that every choice you make, and every single thing that happens to you changes the trajectory of your life, and once you are put on that trajectory, there is no way back. But Groundhog Day - which, I tell him, also happens to be a much better movie - says the opposite. It says if you mess up or make the wrong choice, you just have to keep at it until you do it right.

Bittersweet, someti...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Ed added it

Levithan, David. (2009). Love is the Higher Law. New York: Random House/Knopf 169 pp. ISBN 978-0-375-83468-4 Hard Cover); $15.99

In a very personal (and powerful) book David Levithan shows three very different ways in which the 9/11 attacks changed lives. While, of course, those from New York will have a connection with this book in ways that I will never know, I am reviewing this book because below the surface is an affirmation of what is best about humans—our capacity to create and conceive of...more Levithan, David. (2009). Love is the Higher Law. New York: Random House/Knopf 169 pp. ISBN 978-0-375-83468-4 Hard Cover); $15.99

In a very personal (and powerful) book David Levithan shows three very different ways in which the 9/11 attacks changed lives. While, of course, those from New York will have a connection with this book in ways that I will never know, I am reviewing this book because below the surface is an affirmation of what is best about humans—our capacity to create and conceive of a world filled with the sort of love that recognizes and accepts our very different ways of seeing the world. Thinking back to my own teen years and calling to mind what I see with the high school students in our book group, I especially appreciate the way Levithan uses music to convey the characters struggles to make sense of something as nonsensical as the 9/tragedy. “We are jumping and dancing and cheering so much we can’t see the empty seats. We can’t hear the silences. We’ve become a part of the music. Not only the music that’s being played. But the music of living. I need that.” (p. 89). That was Peter. Peter is gay and before 9/11 he was anticipating his date with Jasper. Jasper feels rage and guilt that are linked to the fact that he slept through the collapse of the twin towers and had to be told what was happening by his parents who are in Korea. When Jasper tries to donate blood, he discovers the double standard and hypocrisy written into the law. How does one even hope to understand what is going on when one sleeps through the worst tragedy in American history and cannot even help out with a blood donation? Claire, our third protagonist, longs to do something but all of her efforts seem to be pointless. Nevertheless, Claire finds meaning and solace in the attempt: “This, I think is how people survive: Even when horrible things have been done to us, we can still find gratitude in one another.” (p. 76). This novel spans a full year and details how our three very different characters cope with the destruction and hold onto to love in the aftermath. The dialogue sparkles and feels very immediate. While younger readers may not have the background to connect with this novel, it is exactly this fact that makes Love is the Higher Law so worth purchasing for libraries and promoting with students.
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Nov 23, 2012 Suad Shamma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, 2012

To be honest, I was not entirely impressed with this book. I wanted to like it, but I couldn't. I love David Levithan, and I love his style of writing and storylines, but this one was weak and under developed.

Love is the Higher Law focuses on the events of 9/11 and the aftermath of the city of New York and how people (namely three teenagers) reacted and moved on. The chapters alternate between each of the three characters, which I always love, but unfortunately in this book it just didn't work a...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Vivian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-to-2013

This book was really philosophical. I've never read a book about 9/11 and i've heard so many books about the event, but i never decided to read one. I think it was because i thought they would all be the same things. This one was a little different, a person was asleep during the whole thing. At first he didn't seem to mind though, but i think he was having a mental breakdown.
Honestly this book was a little confusing because it was in three peoples' perspective.
I just really liked how this book...more This book was really philosophical. I've never read a book about 9/11 and i've heard so many books about the event, but i never decided to read one. I think it was because i thought they would all be the same things. This one was a little different, a person was asleep during the whole thing. At first he didn't seem to mind though, but i think he was having a mental breakdown.
Honestly this book was a little confusing because it was in three peoples' perspective.
I just really liked how this book has so many messages and really makes me wonder about life. It brought a new light to my life.
There were many times where i thought things were never going to get better, but i guess things happen for a reason. Not saying that 9/11 was an event that had to happen. But it teaches us something, and although many lives were lost, they'll always be with us despite them not being physically here with us. They're probably in a better place than we are.
I also liked that the characters were teenager, when i was experiencing 9/11 i was in first grade. Not really sure of what was going on, and i really didn't know what was going on till i reach my adolescence. It reminded me of when Claire was taking care of her little brother, constantly telling him only the things he wanted to hear. When she knew all along what was going on. I just liked how this moment in the story reminded me of how adults were always telling me things i wanted to hear to make me happy. But i knew in the back of my head they were lying. But i guess to preserve my innocence they'll do whatever they can. No wonder why i never trusted adults.
Also, i never thought of this in the point of view of a Korean-American, college person. In addition, he was gay. This character was just so unique and he was also the one that fell asleep through the whole thing. He seemed nonchalant about this whole thing at first, but it started to bug him, little by little. I had so many mixed emotions about this character, and im pretty sure this character had a lot of emotions being build in him as well. From this character, i learned to move on. He seemed to be stuck in the same time, unsure of how to move on. I'm pretty sure i had moments like this before, but being that i'm a senior in high school and having to think about my future and college, i feel like im going too fast in to the future.
As for Peter, he was just Peter.(less)

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Aug 05, 2012 Honeypie Baniqued rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, 2012

I approached it with much trepidation, but was fueled by the fact that there haven't been as many novels about this time as I'd imagined there would be, and also by the fact that as time goes on, readers (especially younger ones) will have less and less firsthand experience of what it was like to be in New York in those hours and days and months. I genuinely can't imagine forgetting any of it, but I also have come to realize that history moves on, and while the meaning of that day changes in th

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I approached it with much trepidation, but was fueled by the fact that there haven't been as many novels about this time as I'd imagined there would be, and also by the fact that as time goes on, readers (especially younger ones) will have less and less firsthand experience of what it was like to be in New York in those hours and days and months. I genuinely can't imagine forgetting any of it, but I also have come to realize that history moves on, and while the meaning of that day changes in the context of what happens afterwards, the experience of the day needs to be preserved with as much immediacy as we can give it. For me, it is still one of the most harrowing and inspiring days I've ever lived through. Harrowing for what happened, and inspiring for how we held on.

David Levithan

Vocabulary review:
trepidation: tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation
harrowing: extremely disturbing or distressing

"One guy has opened up his shoe store and is giving out sneakers to women in heels. Just giving them away."

"Every inch of it is heartbreaking."

"There are friends I could call at six at night, but not at six in the morning. If I had a boyfriend, maybe I could call him. But I don't, so it's a stupid thing to think about."

"If goodness can't come from bad things, it makes bad things unbearable."

"I think we saw the way humanity works on that day, and while some of it was horrifying, so much of it was good."

"It was like everyone suddenly knew what mattered. Money didn't matter. Politics didn't matter. Tabloid news didn't matter. No - compassion mattered. Calm mattered. Respect mattered. Did it really take something of this magnitude to make us realize this?"

"I don't want to ask him to stay, because I don't want him to feel bad for having to leave."

"The secret to living long is to have something to live for."

"I remember on that day," I say, "one of the city officials - it wasn't Giuliani, but someone else - anyway, when he asked what people should do, he said that everyone should go home and give their kids a hug. And while I understood why he was saying that, part of me wanted to say, dude, you should always go home and give your kids a hug. It shouldn't take the World Trade Center falling to inspire that."

"An eye for an eye. Blindness."

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Apr 14, 2012 Kimmy rated it 4 of 5 stars

(From http://pingwings.ca)

Here is the Kobo store’s summary:

The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him. Here are three teens whose intertwining lives ar...more (From http://pingwings.ca)

Here is the Kobo store’s summary:

The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him. Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

I have a lot of David Levithan’s books on my TBR list, and this is the first book of his that I’ve read. It was a quick read, but I really liked it. The story follows three teenagers as they experience the events of September 11, 2001, and its impact on their lives.

The chapters alternate between each character’s point of view, so the first-person narrative is always changing. Sometimes this happens in the middle of a conversation between two of the characters, which I liked, because the characters think and feel a lot more than they say in this book.

Each of these characters experience the events of 9/11 differently – Jasper sleeps through it and wakes to its aftermath; Claire has to walk her brother home, wondering where their mother is; and Peter is waiting to buy a CD and hears the news from a Tower Records employee. I liked reading about their different reactions – Claire wanted to do something, and found herself looking for the good in the middle of all of the bad; Jasper withdrew; and Peter tried to lose himself in music.

There were moments in the story that I found genuinely moving, and although I witnessed the events of that day on television, I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have been in New York while it was all happening (the author was, and has said that he’s included some real-life moments in this book).

Really, though, this book is about what happens to our main characters in the aftermath. The story begins on September 11, and we see how their lives are changed. I thought it was a very well-written novel. It’s not what I would call a fun read, but despite the tragedy around them, Claire, Jasper and Peter find moments of joy and hope in their lives, and as they move forward in the days and years after the attacks, they also find that in each other.(less)

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Feb 05, 2012 Sharlene rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love is the Higher Law examines the lives of Claire, Jasper, and Peter, three New Yorkers whose young lives and relationships are formed and reshaped by the events and the aftermath of 9/11. Levithan is able to tell a lot of story in a such a short novel, and his characters and their emotions are very real. He writes for teens, who were the age of Claire's younger brother when 9/11 happened, but the tales of these three characters will resonate with every reader, for our lives were all changed t...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Jeni Bell rated it 5 of 5 stars

For most teenagers, their firsthand memories of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, are fuzzy, unless they happened to live near New York or Washington, D.C., that day. Consider that today’s high school sophomores would have just begun kindergarten when the attacks occurred, and high school seniors were second-graders at the time. Today, teens’ first memories of that day may well be the reactions of their teachers upon hearing of the tragedy, then struggling to explain to their students an event so...more For most teenagers, their firsthand memories of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, are fuzzy, unless they happened to live near New York or Washington, D.C., that day. Consider that today’s high school sophomores would have just begun kindergarten when the attacks occurred, and high school seniors were second-graders at the time. Today, teens’ first memories of that day may well be the reactions of their teachers upon hearing of the tragedy, then struggling to explain to their students an event so horrific, it was impossible to wrap one’s mind around.

Author David Levithan’s young adult novel, ‘Love Is the Higher Law,’ is a story of three New York teens who are brought together as a result of 9/11. And although the story is fictional, it provides a very real account of what those first moments and days after planes piloted by terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers were like.

“The experience of the day needs to be preserved with as much immediacy as we can give it,” Levithan, who lives and works in New York, writes in an author’s note for the book. “For me, it is still one of the most harrowing and inspiring days I’ve ever lived through. Harrowing for what happened, and inspiring for how we held on.”

‘Love Is the Higher Law’ shines not only for the details that give teens a sense of what it was like to live in New York following 9/11—both emotionally and physically—but also for the sense of hope that shines through at the end, in spite of all that has been taken away. There is a hope for the good in humanity that is impossible not to feel after reading this novel, as when Claire, who cannot sleep in the weeks after 9/11, sneaks out of her apartment to walk downtown, toward the site where the towers once stood, in the rain—and joins another woman in relighting the memorial candles people have set on the ground in front of photos of loved ones (“It feels like the right thing to do, even though the light we make doesn’t change what’s happened. We are making our own temporary constellation, and it doesn’t spell a single thing”).

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Oct 19, 2011 01abbeyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Love is the Higher Law was written about the September 11th terrorist attacks. My first thought of it was reading everything into detail about what really happened on that day. Was came to my surprise was that it told a non-fictional story about three young adults who were, somewhat, effected by the attack. It gave three different points of view throughout each chapter and ended up connecting all three characters into a sort of bond.
Something I was not so happy with about with this book was th...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Doreen Fritz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: abraham-lincoln-h-s-book-award-nomi

Three young adults who live in New York City share their thoughts with each other - and with us - on September 11, 2011 and in the year and a half following. Claire is in high school, but leaves to pick up her younger brother and try to get home (upper Manhattan). Peter is waiting for Tower Records to open so he can buy a CD. And Jasper, in Brooklyn, is sound asleep til about noon, when he wakes up to find that his world has changed. The author, who also lived through the horrific sights, smells...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-abe-lincoln-nominees, september-11, historical-fiction, terrorism, terrorists, teenagers, grief-mourning, friendship, relationships, families, young-adult-fiction, realistic, borrowed-from-the-library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. David Levithan examines the events of September 11th, 2001, through the eyes of several fictional teens who experienced it first-hand. Claire immediately thinks of her little brother (in kindergarten across the street from her high school) and her mother (unable to reach them immediately). Peter is waiting to buy the new Bob Dylan album. Jasper sleeps through all of the excitement (although he lives in Brooklyn), and first hears about what happened from his parents who are in Korea at the time....more

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Jul 18, 2011 MyTeenReads rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a book by my favorite author that I never got around to reading! Love Is The Higher Law by David Levithan isn't my favorite book by him, but I did enjoy it.

It's about three teenagers (one of them is out of high school) who are living in New York when the tragedies of 9/11 occur. The story goes through the year and how it affects the characters and how they change the way that they think and live their lives.

Claire, Jasper, and Peter are all very different. Claire was probably the chara...more This is a book by my favorite author that I never got around to reading! Love Is The Higher Law by David Levithan isn't my favorite book by him, but I did enjoy it.

It's about three teenagers (one of them is out of high school) who are living in New York when the tragedies of 9/11 occur. The story goes through the year and how it affects the characters and how they change the way that they think and live their lives.

Claire, Jasper, and Peter are all very different. Claire was probably the character who you could say was most affected by 9/11. Throughout the story, she realizes a lot of things about her life and how she thought before, and how she thinks now. She is in the same class as Peter. Peter is personally my favorite character of the three, mostly because he has a passion for music. After 9/11 he realizes how true some of the lyrics of the songs he listens to are, which I can really relate to. He and Jasper met at a party and were had planned to go out on 9/11. Then after the incident, they decide to change the date to another time. On their date, it’s terribly awkward and just a bit sad to read. Claire becomes closer friends with Peter after that, and she meets Jasper one night when she is too tired to sleep. After this, she becomes friends with both Peter and Jasper, separately. At one point, Peter and Jasper meet up again and in Jasper’s part of the story, he says something about how they both love Claire, and it only seems right for them to be together because they can’t be with her. I like how the three characters are all so different in the way that they act and think, yet the ways that they become friends and the complications between their friendships. Jasper and Peter are also gay, and I love gay characters (as bad as that sounds for stereotyping them). So they definitely had a soft spot for me while reading this book.

In the author's note, Levithan says that he was working in New York at the time of 9/11 and for many months afterwards. He also says that some of the phrases in the book are taken directly from emails sent to his friends after 9/11.

I found this very interesting how he was able to incorporate his own words from the time into his story of the past. I also liked how this book was written by someone who had experienced it in the same place it had happened, as opposed to an author who lived in California and heard only heard the news on TV or in the newspaper. This author was actually there at the time, and it gives the book more credibility and authenticity.

This really isn’t my type of book, because it goes more into history, and I am not really a history-type of girl. Despite that, I did like how reading this book made me more aware of 9/11 and more information about it and how it has affected my country. I was only 5 or 6 at the time, and nowhere near New York. Being so young, my parents didn’t tell me anything about it. I am glad that after reading this, I was able to learn some facts about the event and become more educated about the past.

I would recommend this book to everyone. Whether you know a lot about 9/11, know a little bit, or don’t know anything at all, it’s definitely a good book to read. And even if you don’t live in the United States and this particular day doesn’t mean anything to you, it’s still a good book to read! There’s still a little bit of romance and friendship and optimism. I did like this book, even though its not one of my favorites.
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Apr 24, 2011 Jess - The Tales Compendium rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary

Love is the Higher Law is a story about three teenager from New York City who were not directly affected by September 11th but whose lives were forever changed.

As many of you know, I have recently returned from visiting New York. While I was there, I visited the 9/11 Tribute Centre which was extremely moving and I was affected way more than I thought I would be. Reading the beginning of the book, which describes the morning of 9/11 from the perspective of our three teenagers, I actually had some...more Love is the Higher Law is a story about three teenager from New York City who were not directly affected by September 11th but whose lives were forever changed.

As many of you know, I have recently returned from visiting New York. While I was there, I visited the 9/11 Tribute Centre which was extremely moving and I was affected way more than I thought I would be. Reading the beginning of the book, which describes the morning of 9/11 from the perspective of our three teenagers, I actually had some trouble getting through the pages, due to the emotional content, and wasn't sure if I would be able to finish reading. Luckily for me, the actual event and description of 9/11 is only at the very beginning of the book. The rest of the story follows Claire, Jasper and Peter and how they react in the months following the aftermath of the attacks.

Claire, Jasper and Peter become stuck in their post 9/11 world, trying to find their place and find meaning in their now changed lives; Jasper trying to feel something and his frustration and anger over not being allowed to help by donating blood, Claire rallying to help, not just 9/11 charities, but all groups, wanting to do something, anything. Claire is a very interesting character, very deep and thoughtful. While feeling completely lost, she marvels at how everyone has come together to help each other (she makes a profound 'speech' on pages 105-106 that I really like). I identified most with her character and found her actions touching, especially the time she spends at Union Square.

In the week after 9/11, New York City becomes something it hasn't been since the days before the steamship: isolated. Even after the bridges and tunnels and airports open again, most of the people who are using them are making a return voyage. The tourists disappear. Bands do not show up. Concerts are cancelled left and right. Museums are empty. New York is filled with... New Yorkers.
(Peter, page 81)

Towards the end of the book it became alot more philosophical, each of the characters talking about how they feel and their new views on the world. While I like this aspect, I would have enjoyed a bit more character interaction between our three protagonists, rather than mostly hearing their thoughts. By the end, we are at a point where it is a year and a half after the attacks. We see how Claire, Jasper and Peter have changed as people. We've watched as they struggled to comprehend what has happened, and the conflicting emotions related to moving on. When is it ok to laugh? To carry on with life?

You may be wondering why I picked a book to read about 9/11 when the sadness was once again quite raw to me (having visited the tribute centre). I actually wasn't so much thinking about what I was about to read, but more whose writing I was about to read. My current quest is to read everything David Levithan has written. He is awesome.(less)

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Jan 01, 2011 Cherylann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fav-authors, realistic-fiction, ya

When this book showed up under my Christmas tree (thanks Santa Bill), I suddenly remembered that I had wanted to read it. (And I hate that there's so much I want to read that I actually forget what's on my list.) This book was - in a word - AMAZING. There are many, many reasons why, so I will narrow it to three.

1) LGBT - Levithan is probably best known for Boy Meets Boy. In Love is the Higher Law, as in other books by Levithan, he has gay characters. What I love about this novel is that the nove...more

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Sep 04, 2010 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book. I really really did. When I saw it in a Waiting for Wednesday post on a blog I immediately added it to my “must have” list of books to get when it released. I’d yet to see any young adult fiction that was directly plotted around the events of September 11th and it’s description definitely pulled me in and intrigued me. What’s more, I knew that it would be handled with taste and class by Levithan given his New York City roots.

This review is, of course, not to say that...more I wanted to like this book. I really really did. When I saw it in a Waiting for Wednesday post on a blog I immediately added it to my “must have” list of books to get when it released. I’d yet to see any young adult fiction that was directly plotted around the events of September 11th and it’s description definitely pulled me in and intrigued me. What’s more, I knew that it would be handled with taste and class by Levithan given his New York City roots.

This review is, of course, not to say that the story wasn’t handled as such because it was. As always, Levithan’s writing style is approachable and entertaining. My problem is that the story felt so disconnected. Originally, I was excited by the prospect of reading the alternating points of view. I have, in the past, enjoyed this format a great deal. But for this story, the best parts were when all three came together.

Levithan built the story at a leisurely pace, bringing the three together only for a small part of the end of the book. Peter, being the middle man, knew both Claire and Jasper separately so watching how he navigated the aftermath to eventually bring them all into this strong bond was interesting. It just took longer to get there than I would have liked.

I was worried that the romance between Jasper and Peter was going to be ill-timed and equally ill-placed. Thankfully it was built with just as much apprehension and chaos as the time surrounding it held. The back and forth of the should they/shouldn’t they and the emotional turmoil of living in the city during one of the most catastrophic events in history was handled with delicacy and from all appearances rang true to form. Life didn’t stop completely in this book it just took a drastic turn in varying directions.

Claire was the most proactive in her reactions, do-gooding her way across the city hoping to make a difference. While at times a bit preachy for me I thought it was a good alternative perspective to the interpersonal struggles of Jasper and Peter. This isn’t to say that Claire wasn’t fighting her own demons from that day because she was, she struggles just as much as the rest. But I found her to be a bit dull and flat — like I said slightly preachy.

I think in the end, this book fell short not because it was a bad book or poorly written and characterized because it was none of that. I think it suffered from my expectations. Though I can’t verbalize why they were so high I just expected more….or maybe different. Had the story infused the three together more (and earlier) than it had I suspect I may have felt differently.

I strongly encourage people interested in the young adult perspective on September 11th to give this book a go. I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts on why I may be wrong!(less)

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May 24, 2010 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, glbtq, ya

Written because Levithan’s 15 year old primary audience was 6 years old when the Towers fell, he has three teens tell about their experiences on that day and immediately after. Claire is a senior in HS and goes across the street to help in her second grade brother’s class. Peter, a friend of Claire’s, skipped school that morning to pick up Bob Dylan’s new album. Jasper, whose college didn’t start for two weeks, slept through it.

“The terrorists – those nineteen people, did the worst thing you ca...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Aaron rated it 5 of 5 stars

Master teen author and book editor David Levithan has crafted an amazing story of three teenagers living in New York as they experience the events and aftereffects of what happened on 9/11.

Claire is a 17 year old who lives blocks away from the World Trade Center. On the morning of the attacks, she is in school. She is worried that her mother, who works in another part of the island, might have been on the subway underneath. She goes across the street to the neighboring elementary school to see h...more Master teen author and book editor David Levithan has crafted an amazing story of three teenagers living in New York as they experience the events and aftereffects of what happened on 9/11.

Claire is a 17 year old who lives blocks away from the World Trade Center. On the morning of the attacks, she is in school. She is worried that her mother, who works in another part of the island, might have been on the subway underneath. She goes across the street to the neighboring elementary school to see her brother and help with watching the kids as the administration waits for parents to come pick them up.

One of her schoolmates, Peter is at a local record store waiting to buy a new album. Music is incredibly important, and he is afraid to listen to any music for fear that whatever he hears will be tied to the horrible events in his memory.

The weekend before, Peter met Dylan, a boy preparing to heard off for his freshman year of college. At the party, they had arranged to have their first date that Tuesday evening, but how can anyone think of such things at times like this. Dylan is a Brooklynite who is currently alone as his parents have flown out to Korea to be with his dying grandmother.

The story is presented in all three voices in alternating chapters. Readers join them as they live through the experiences of that day. In fact, the readers stay with them until three years later when the invasion of Iraq. Through their shared perspectives and their innermost thoughts, it quickly becomes clear that they are all changed on various levels.

I found the book to be incredibly moving. It really captures the raw emotion (fear, horror, sense of community) that happened in the hours, days, and weeks that followed the terrorist attack. Levithan had set out to write a book for later generations who won't be able to remember what it was like to live through these events, and I think he has done so masterfully. In some ways, I found this to be a tough read as it opened up some of the trauma that I remember feeling at the time, but that is a clear sign that the novel does what he had hoped it would do.(less)

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Apr 04, 2010 laaaaames rated it 2 of 5 stars

I think I need to accept the fact that the David Levithan work I'll enjoy most already happened in the days he ghostwrote for The Babysitters Club.

I like the idea of this book a lot, and I cannot deny Levithan packs in some beautiful sentences about 9/11. In the future there is much here that may help explain what was felt that day, what rippled through the country.

But also: this is a novel. And Levithan's multi-POV narrative reads more like a project in multi-POV narrative than, you know, just...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Maggie Stiefvater rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I don’t normally post a 9/11 related blog post on my blog, just because there’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. And even if I could say it differently, there’s nothing I can say that would change the events of that day.

But I read a book this year that changed my mind. It’s called LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW, by David Levithan. In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I both know and like David -- he’s editor Mixtape and we work together on SHIVER. I should also ment...more I don’t normally post a 9/11 related blog post on my blog, just because there’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. And even if I could say it differently, there’s nothing I can say that would change the events of that day.

But I read a book this year that changed my mind. It’s called LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW, by David Levithan. In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I both know and like David -- he’s editor Mixtape and we work together on SHIVER. I should also mention, however, that I know and like a lot of authors -- and yet I don’t blog about a lot of books. I’m really picky and though I like a lot of books, I only blog about the books that I really love.

I really love this book. And here’s why.

It’s about three teens’ experiences on the day of the attack, and how it changes them as people. I have to admit I was really leery about reading a book about 9/11 -- I didn’t want anything that was a) maudlin, b) manipulative, or c) intensely depressing. And I just didn’t see how a 9/11 book could avoid all of those things. But I thought, if anyone can pull it off, it’s David -- his novels all have this very innocent, open quality to them.

So I began to read. And on page seven, my eyes teared up, and I thought: here we go.

But here we didn’t.

That was the first and last time my eyes watered in this book, because LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW is not about reliving the horrors of 9/11. What can I say about it? It’s this incredibly inspiring, moving, and honest look at how something good can come out of something terrible. David’s love of New York City permeates the novel, and as a non-New Yorker, it was wonderful to have a window into that world.

And it was not a sad book. Incredibly, it was everything that 9/11 was not. Though as a writer I saw a ton of things that I would’ve changed about the book (remember this post about loving books that we had issues with? yeah, this was one of them), all I could think after I closed the pages was what a buoyant mood I was in. I was filled with faith in the ultimate good of people in the face of horror, and I, like the main characters, felt like I wanted to talk about where I was that day, how I felt, what changed.

I did. That night, I curled up with my husband in bed, lights off, and together we whispered back and forth what we remembered about 9/11. I still remember the exact place I was when I first heard the news on my car radio, not just the street I was on, not just the block I was driving through, but the distance from the curb and the quality of the light. I remember the payphone that I called my now-husband on as the ambulance he drove raced towards the Pentagon.

Ultimately, what I loved about LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW was the message -- that 9/11 was not for nothing if we let it change us for the better. If we remain better versions of ourselves, the versions that reached out to strangers and felt part of something bigger, then it wasn’t such a senseless, vicious tragedy, and it’s something worth remembering.The title says it all -- if it's not true, it's what ought to be true. (less)

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Sep 24, 2009 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Claire, Jasper, and Peter are just three of the millions of people in New York City on September 11th, 2001. Each one has their own story, each one has their own struggles and responses to the tragedy. Each of them is trying to make sense or what has just happened around them. This is the story of three teens and how September 11th wound up bringing them together. This is a story of love.

[Originally I wasn't planning on posting this review today. But I feel like I need to post this for me.:]

I wa...more

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Sep 07, 2009 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

three new york kids experience sept.11th separately and then find their lives connecting... My favorite part of this book was the dedication page--I think it might be the most meaningful part too, in a way. ...I could write a paper maybe about a Readers Response theory type read of the dedication and the book, and an imagined teen reader...and how the dedication page would be the thing that changes the reader's life.

The rest of the book was fine. And I was glad for it. Maybe especially because I...more three new york kids experience sept.11th separately and then find their lives connecting... My favorite part of this book was the dedication page--I think it might be the most meaningful part too, in a way. ...I could write a paper maybe about a Readers Response theory type read of the dedication and the book, and an imagined teen reader...and how the dedication page would be the thing that changes the reader's life.

The rest of the book was fine. And I was glad for it. Maybe especially because I know how much some students want a 9/11 novel...really--probably because it's gigantic lore that they hardly remember, and so dramatic. ...this is a 9/11 story I can get behind. Although, I wondered throughout the read, how much of it would make sense to a younger reader who didn't experience it--there aren't details of the drama--rather, a lot of the details are the slow, quotidian details of that time afterward, the adjustment to an unimagined change, with all the smaller surprising changes in people, community, and culture... For an older reader, it definitely piqued memories from those months--the small surprises you didn't want to forget...like the disbelief, and sleeping in clothes for 3 days with my radio on, making me feel safe, and then things like the super bouncy balls with flags almost immediately appearing in those twist-crank gumball-type machines at the supermarket...things like that. Anyway, eager to see what younger readers think.
Also, bonus points for the presence of two well-adjusted, healthy, empathetic, gay teenagers with no identity angst.

Interesting bit: time spans from fall 2001 to 2003, as the war in iraq had just begun -- I *think* Lorrie Moore's new book A Gate at the Stairs does the same span, maybe for similar reasons/with similar effect? [in Love is the Higher Law, it provides a sober & quiet ending...somehow this (the characters' responses and thoughts) broadens the scope of the book in a very useful/admirable way...brings it into now.:](less)

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Aug 20, 2009 Brandon Will rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lit

Most of the time I want to avoid holocaust stories and AIDS memoirs like...well, like a plague. The events of 9/11 fit well into this category: things I know I should read about but are just too depressing to the core to read about sometimes when you're trying to live life, which can be depressing enough.

But we need to read these books sometimes. Levithan makes it easy for us, in this case. Because he loves, and he cares, and he wants people to remember - and if they don't remember, then to kno...more Most of the time I want to avoid holocaust stories and AIDS memoirs like...well, like a plague. The events of 9/11 fit well into this category: things I know I should read about but are just too depressing to the core to read about sometimes when you're trying to live life, which can be depressing enough.

But we need to read these books sometimes. Levithan makes it easy for us, in this case. Because he loves, and he cares, and he wants people to remember - and if they don't remember, then to know that other people they live with remember.

Here, Levithan highlights the hope and the humanity that bloomed from that tragedy, looking at it reflected through three teenage lives lived in or near that city, at that moment in time.

What he does that is amazing with this book is he writes a personal, intimate story to the backdrop of history - recent history. Personal stories against history are a staple in young adult literature. But not so much in recent history. These events happened not even eight years ago - it's barely "history", in the context of history-book-history. But it is history in all of our lives, and it is so important to not let that become just "history" - like in the history books. The living stories, the lives that changed - that's what needs to be remembered. Introspection doesn't need to stop and wait for the next horrible thing to happen in the world.

My problem was that I've read his other books so many times and loved them so much and got to know them so much that this seemed awfully...Levithan-ian. All the first person narrators are certainly philosophical. They all see the beauty in the minutia of life, how it all connects to the bigger, realer, all-encompassing picture. The plot involves a chance encounter where characters take a chance that leads to unlikely connection and catharsis.

I sound awfully jaded re-reading that. My point is not the slam the book. It's a wonderful book. The point is to say that if you love Levithan - go in loving it, and knowing that you are in for what he does best. That is meant in no way to demean him. Why shouldn't someone do something they do best? It's hard to do something best! Hell, it's really, really hard to do something mediocre! It takes millions of dollars to make a bad movie, a countless hopes and dreams to lose a semi-final, and a lifetime of hopes and wishes and muddled good intentions to ruin a blooming relationship. There is nothing new with his form here, and I was disappointed with that at first. But then I told myself to get over my "literati" self and just enjoy the man doing what he does so wonderfully.

And if you've never read him before, read this and you'll quite possibly want to run and hold and take in everything he's ever written.(less)

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Feb 27, 2012 Lynley rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the first David Levithan novel I've read, apart from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-written with John Green.

It's interesting to hear about the experiences of those who were right there, near the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, because as much news coverage as it got, I didn't know the smaller details, like how it was windy, and how papers from the offices ended up blowing around the streets: minutes from meetings, HR documents and so on, winding up in people's front yards. This was ki...more

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Feb 07, 2012 RJ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ever since Boy Meets Boy, I've taken a liking for David Levithan. That's because (1) I'm gay and (2) he writes cute gay stories. This is why when I found Love Is The Higher Law at the bookstore, I didn't hesitate to buy it.

At first, I thought LITHL was a love story, but when most of the book covered the characters' experiences of 9/11, I asked myself: "where did the love story go?" It was only after reading the book that I understood. It is a love story—there's the story about Jasper and Peter,...more

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