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Y'all! Guess who stopped by our locker today? DAVID LEVITHAN!!! As in, author of such great book as Boy Meets Boy and his latest, Every Day. I know, right? Très excitement! And he gave us quite the scoop on his life, his writing and his secret crush. (David, we cannot WAIT to convo with you at our next slumber party. Also, we'll totes trade some Twizzlers for a few of your lime Doritos.) Read below to get the dish on the fabulous Mr. Levithan!
THE ACTUALLY RELATED TO THE BOOK QUESTIONS
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With this book, you've managed to do something extraordinarily difficult: you've challenged your readers while also entertaining them. What kind of feedback have you received from teen readers? Is it different than the reaction of adult readers?
All the feedback has been great, to be honest, and I can’t say that teens and adults read the book any differently. I think A’s situation has made a lot of readers think about their own lives, and the relation of their own selves to their own bodies. Which is exactly what writing it was like for me.
On the back cover of my advance reader copy, A is referred to as "he." Did you have to fight against your main character being classified (by your publisher or marketing department) as a specific gender?
I think everyone has bent over backwards to portray A as the genderless person A is. But our language doesn’t make it easy. If anything, this whole experience has highlighted to be how utterly ridiculous the gendered nature of our language is. Why do we have different pronouns for different genders? At least our verbs are gender-free.
A wakes up in a lot of different bodies throughout the book. Which body was the most fun or interesting for you to write? Which one was the most difficult?
Oh dear. I’m going to pass on this question. Because I think part of the experience of the book is not knowing what will come next. I wrote it that way – there was no outline, no idea of what was coming – and I want the reader to read it that way. Abstractly, I can say that the second chapter of the book was the biggest challenge, because that was where I had to hold over A’s voice but have A be within a completely different situation. This is counterintuitive for a writer – we are taught so much that characters should never sound the same. But in this case, it was both a different character and the same character, and I had to figure out how to convey that. Once I did it the first time, it made it easier all the other times.
If A woke up in your body one morning, what are some details he would immediately notice about you?
Honestly? It is a rare evening in bed that I don’t have to blow my nose at some point, especially during allergy season. So if I was writing A waking up in my body, I think the first thing A
would notice would be the number of tissues scattered around the bed. Then, of course, there’d be the fact that I’m legally blind without my contact lenses, so the blur would definitely be a striking feature.
Based on those two details, if I woke up in your body, I would have no idea I wasn't in my own body. (Until I went to the bathroom.) Allergies can kiss my ass.
I'm probably not the first person to ask you this but I can't help myself: If you could wake up in someone's body (close to your age, per A's experience) and be them for a day, who would it be and why?
As for waking up in someone else’s body – if there’s anything this book has taught me, it’s that I wouldn’t want to do it at all. And if I had to, I would want it to be a complete stranger, so the sense of trespass would be minimized. I think A is able to do it because A has never known anything else. To have to do it after living in one body all your life would be horrible.
THE YA QUESTIONS:
If your real life adolescence was a YA book…
What would you, the main character, be like?
If Patrick and Charlie had a kid, it would probably be me.
Who is your secret crush?
I would love to have E. Lockhart write me a boyfriend.
Yes! Why can't E. Lockhart write boyfriends for all of us?!!
What is your #1 source of angst?
Inequality. Duh.
At what point would the reader pump his/her fist in victory?
When inequality is remedied, surely.
And who would play you in the film adaptation?
Libba Bray.
I WOULD PAY MONEY TO SEE THAT. FOR SERIOUS.
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THE SLUMBER PARTY QUESTIONS
What is your secret power?
Empathy?
What is your #1 favorite food?
Pizza.
Tell me about your area of expertise.
In a word, words.
If you could assemble your own Ocean’s 11 of fictional characters, who would you pick and why?
I’d reunite the Three Investigators, because that would make my 9-yr-old self damn happy.
What is your best karaoke song?
Son of a Preacher Man
Tell me something scandalous!
I’m naked!
What is your favorite adult beverage?
Depends on the season, really. I’m that kind of drinker.
What book have you read the most number of times?
I think at this point, M. T. Anderson’s Feed wins.
Given the fact that you mentioned that book in Every Day, that makes sense!
Who is your “freebie”?
Everyone in my life has value.
YA authors are so cool. Who would you give a BFF charm to?
Billy Merrell, in the form of a hoodie.
Out of all of the characters you’ve written, which one do you most
wish you could be?
I think it’s dangerous to try to be someone you’ve invented. Or date someone you’ve invented.
If you were invited to the FYA slumber party (and obvs, you ARE), what pajamas would you wear, and what is the most crucial snack food and/or movie you’d bring?
I’d wear one of the fifteen Clifford t-shirts I’ve collected over the years from walking on the Scholastic AIDS Walk team. (And bottoms, of course.) I’d love for there to be lime Tostitos. And I’d bring over Some Kind of Wonderful.
MASH
Spouse
Not giving options to this one until this country lets me have one.
AMEN!
Honeymoon
Vegas
Hawaii
New Jersey
ER
# of Kids
14
200
398 (we are talking baby goats, right?)
2 human children
Job
Cosmonaut
Cosmotologist
writer for Cosmo
'80s Cover Band Manager
Income
99%
1%
Bloomberg
25%
Hometown
Somewhere
Nowhere
The Place
The Pits
Pet
Dog
Cat
Iguana
Honey Boo Boo
Car
Prius
Towtruck
Hot Wheels
Hummer
Normally the Hummer is the worst option, but since you've got 398 baby goats AND one Honey Boo Boo to take care of, I think you'll need it. To drive away. Often. Good luck, David! (And sorry about your honeymoon.)