Answers in the Pages

by David Levithan

there’s something important about going back to books you’ve already read. You will always find new things inside, or have new reactions to characters you thought you already knew well. You learn more about the story and you also learn more about yourself as a reader, and where you are in life.

For the first time, he realized teachers had a hard job, deciding which really good books to teach, since there were definitely more really good books than there were days in the school year.)

If we’re going to defend this book—and I promise you, I plan on defending this book—the proper line of defense is not ‘But they’re not gay!’ Because that implies that there would be a legitimate problem if they were gay. The proper defense is ‘It doesn’t matter if they’re gay. The characters can be whoever they are.’ And I know some of you might think I’m saying that because I myself am gay. But I am not saying this as a gay man, or as a gay teacher. I’m saying this as a human being who believes that all human beings should be treated with respect.”

“While the meaning of a book may be informed by the author’s intentions, it isn’t defined by them. Meaning comes from the combination of what the author puts in and what the reader takes out.

you can’t have freedom if you’re not willing to defend it from the people who want to take it away.”

when you’re not ready to understand something, you become afraid of it.

“We are who we are,” I said. “And we’ll be who we’ll be. A book can make us feel that, but it can’t invent that. It’s already inside us.”

There is nothing ‘inappropriate’ about being gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender or nonbinary or questioning or any other identity within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. There is nothing sinful about it. There is nothing to be ashamed of. There is nothing about being queer that deserves censorship rather than expression. Nothing. This should not be a matter of debate, because a person’s humanity should never be a matter of debate. Instead, it is a matter of the highest principle we can aspire to, which is equality.

My parents say that telling someone who you really are is a gift you give to them, not something you owe them.

I’m telling you what we need: more books, not fewer books. More love, not less love.