Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Christmas time has always been Lily's favorite holiday. She gets into the holiday cheer and celebrates with her family.

Except this year, her parents are at Fiji for a belated honeymoon trip, her grandfather went to Florida to see his lady friend, and her brother, Langston, is so hooked on his boyfriend that he's not into the holiday cheer.

Happy Holidays to Lily.

Then her brother came up with an idea - create a notebook full of dares and hope that someone fun, smart, and male will take the dares to do throughout the holiday break. Lily had little hope that someone would play the daring game.

She was wrong.

Christmas is not a holiday that Dash particularly likes - and this year instead of spending it with one of his divorced parents, he's on his own while they celebrate in warmer areas than New York.

So when he saw the red notebook at the bookstore, he figured, "why not?" and filled in the missing pieces. But before giving it back to the designated bookseller, he made a dare of his own. And this is how Dash and Lily got their book of dares started.

Instead of dreading the holidays, Dash and Lily are now conversing to one another by daring each other do to random things - not illegal, well, not always, but just random events to get to know another another.

But will Dash live up to lily's expectations? Or will they forever be adequateness through the notebook, never to meet in person? All I have to say is, they are in for an interesting ride! Read Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan to join them on their adventure.

My Thoughts/Reflections
What a great story Levithan and Cohn created - again! And I love how both characters are book lovers - that's always a plus in my book!

Lily is a silly character. She has random acts and does really weird things, but if she wasn't weird than this book would not have been as entertaining with the certain dares she gives to Dash.

And Dash is so serious and grown up, knowing words at the age of 16 that I don't even know in my mid 20's! It was nice to see him loosen up and have fun during these dares.

By the way, if you're wondering, there are no bad, dirty dares in here. Just fun, simple dares that made the characters think and be creative.

There were a few times where I actually did laugh out loud, and couldn't stop thinking about the amusing scenes even after I read past them. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was very unique and entertaining, but also a story about trusting a stranger and getting to know a possible friend.

I think this would be suited for any readers. It alternates chapters by Lily and Dash's point of view, so we are able to see what they are thinking when they are making the new dares and when they create the other persons dares. And we also get to see a glimpse in their real life away from the dare book.

A great book. I am now converted to Levithan and Cohn's writing and will be making it a goal to read more of their works!

P.S. - if you actually look at my labels, which some may not, I only put "murder/mystery" there because there is a little bit of mystery as to what the dares would be and who the other person is. There is no murder in this novel. Just to clarify :)

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Nick was having a pretty normal night. He was playing with his band - minus a drummer - as an opening act for a band and was really getting into the music.

Then his ex, Tris, walked in the room - whom he still wasn't over yet. He thought she was there to see him, until he saw the model guy next to her and she started to "moon" over him.

Things were looking down then, until he saw a girl in a flannel shirt next to him in the crowd, after his set on stage. To take his mind off of Tris, he asks this random stranger to be his girlfriend for the next 5 minutes.

When Norah was approached by the lead singer of the last band on stage to be his fake girlfriend, her first thought was "NO!". Then she saw her frienemy, Tris, coming her way and didn't want to deal with her, so her response to Nick was to kiss him.

Unfortunately, that didn't make Tris go away - but had the opposite effect.

But Norah did not realize what an amazing kisser this boy was going to be. She didn't want to stop after their first, but was rudely interrupted.

After that, Norah needed to take her friend, Caroline, home since she was wasted. Nick's friends were ecstatic that Norah was keeping Nick's mind off of Tris that they took Caroline if Norah would take Nick and keep him company - get his mind even further away from Tris.

So after that, they decided to go somewhere else. And somewhere else. And both Nick and Norah cannot deny the chemisty they feel for the other. Which is insane since they met at 7 p.m.

But since they are strangers, the question is: will it be a one night deal, or will they keep connecting and getting together afterward? Because anything could happen for just one night. Read Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
I can't believe that this book - the WHOLE book - is about one night. From about 7 pm to 5 am the next morning. That is how long Nick and Norah know each other - even though it seems like they have been associated for a lot longer.

This is told through both Nick and Norah's viewpoint, alternating chapters throughout the chapter. And I really liked that because it gave the reader a chance to see what both characters were thinking - sometimes about the same topic as the other, depending on what the chapters ended/began.

Norah is so responsible and mature, as is Nick. It was very entertaining to read Norah's reaction to Nick's sexuality when she was questioning if he was straight or not. She figured out the answer to that very quickly :)

The way the book was written, there were a lot of paragraphs with the narrator's thoughts instead of action or dialogue. Usually that is a huge no in my book because I tend to skip over long paragraphs and look for more one on one scenes, but I made myself re-read when I did that to fully appreciate the novel.

Overall, I found this really entertaining and realistic to the band/music crowd. There was some language and content that I think is appropriate for older readers, but the connection between Nick and Norah will really get to readers, I think.

I can't believe it took me this long to read this book, even though tons of my friends have read it. I will be reading their other novel, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, soon and will feel up to date with all of my book lover friends :)

Go read this novel if you want a night to remember! Only 160 pages and it will keep you up until the last page!

Every Day by David Levithan

Each morning when A wakes up, it is a new experience because (s)he is always in a different body.

A is not a boy or a girl, but rather a person in a guy or a girl's body for the day. A doesn't like strictly boys or girls, but rather who the body (s)he's residing for the day. A does not know the person (s)he's living for the day personally, but can find facts in the person's brain when (s)he needs to go to school, what sport they play, etc.

This is normal for A. A goes through the motions that are right for each day, act like the person for that day, and wait to see who (s)he will be the next morning.

A has never been the same person twice. The only consistent thing is that A wakes up in Massachusetts.

Living like this didn't bother A. But one day, A was Justin. And Justin had a girlfriend named Rhiannon.

Somehow, A could not forget Rhiannon. She was unlike any girl A had ever met before. Usually A forgets about the previous day to concentrate on the new day and new person, but Rhiannon stuck in A's mind.

Then A did the unthinkable; he told Rhiannon the truth. Everything, exactly what happens to A every day. At first Rhiannon didn't believe him, but day after day A would try to meet up with Rhiannon to prove that everything A said was the truth.

And A started to fall in love with Rhiannon.

However, there were things that kept them apart, physically and mentally. Some days, when A was a female and saw Rhiannon, there was tension between them. When A was overweight, Rhiannon was distant. Other days, there was a spark between them.

It was a complicated relationship. Not to mention that Rhiannon was still with Justin.

So A tried really hard to figure out how to fix this problem. And A was also living a different life a day, trying to make sure he didn't get anyone in major trouble for something that A did while living their life for that day.

Will A and Rhiannon be able to find a way to be together, when A changes bodies every day? Read Every Day by David Levithan to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Wow. There was so much that I loved about this novel. I have a few friends who love David Levithan but this is the first book of his that I've read. I will be fixing that shortly.

So, A. I kept imagining A to be a guy, even when (s)he was in a girl's body. I bet that other readers read A differently, but that's how I kept imagining A to be.

I also loved the fact that there was every single type of person in here. Straight, gay, transgender, overweight, depressed, suicidal, you name it. Levithan added it. And A was able to be that person for one day. Some days were better than others, but A knew without a doubt that (s)he will be leaving that body after waking up the next morning.

I think that's why I love this book so much. I think any and every reader will find something to relate to with this novel. This isn't a "oh, you might like it because the character likes to read" sort of recommendation. This is just full of amazingness.

It's also realistic when it comes to Rhiannon and A's "relationship". You can imagine that trying to be together with someone who has no idea where (s)he will wake up the next morning is a little difficult. And Levithan shows that. It's not a normal relationship and it is extremely hard for them not to get mad at the other for certain things.

I am extremely glad this is located at my library where I work, because if it wasn't, I would buy it to put it in there. I hope other teens will check it out and find something that they will love about this novel, because I would find it hard not to myself (obviously, haha).

Now, I need to go and get more of Levithan's novels to see if they par up to this amazing book!