17 Apr / 19 Love Songs by David Levithan [in Booklist]
David Levithan’s latest compilation mixes it up with one graphic and two verse entries among the familiar prose. Three tracks feature returning characters, including Every Day series’ main character A in “Day 2934,” reprised by Alex McKenna, who presents a heart-melting Valentine’s Day morning for an 8-year-old and his mother; Boy Meets Boy’s Infinite Darlene in “The Quarterback and the Cheerleader,” reprised by Levithan, who gets a romance of her own; and Two Boys Kissing’s other couple, Avery and Ryan, whose falling in love is captured by Graham Halstead in “Snowy Day.”
Other standouts include “How My Parents Met,” Levithan’s homage to his parents’ ongoing love story; Ron Butler’s earnest “Quiz Bowl Antichrist” about a teen’s “unarticulated crush”; Rebecca Bowman’s heartfelt verses in “The Mulberry Patch” for love of friends, books, and libraries; and the many-voiced chorus of what the singers are really thinking “As the Philadelphia Queer Youth Choir Sings Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ …”
A few voices are readily recognizable, but most are not, and narrators unfortunately do not identify themselves. Admonishments aside, adulations are still plenty. Since high school, Levithan explains in his “Liner Notes,” he’s been writing stories for friends for Valentine’s Day – this year and beyond, his devoted readers get to share the love.
Review: “Media,” Booklist Online, April 3, 2020
Readers: Young Adult
Published: 2019