Young Adult Literature without Apology

Amy's assessment of contemporary young adult literature, organized by author and title, censored by noone.

Realistic | Romance | Science Fiction | Historical Fiction | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Levithan, David and Rachel Cohn (2006). Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. NY: Knopf. ISBN: 0375835318. 192 pages.

Think Before Sunrise, only with more-punk-than-you teen protagonists and a more hopeful ending. Nick, the only straight member of his queercore band, is trying to get over his ex-girlfriend's major dismissal and Norah, a downtown scenester whose father is a big-time record executive, is committed to steeling her heart in the wake of a disasterous on-again, off-again relationship. The two of them meet rather "cute" when Nick asks Norah to act like she's his girlfriend after he spies his ex at a club where his band is performing. Through a series of dramas involving a drunk best friend, Norah's own ex-encounter, a bribe from Nick's bandmates and advice from a transsexual doorperson, the two misfits find themselves spending the night roaming Manhattan.

You know the type of person whose personal dramas seem to supercede all (perhaps more legitimate) greater social and cultural concerns and with whom it is easy to get swept up and who you've probably spent more than one night following around, holding them back from beating somebody up and then talking them down from a drunken, sobbing breakdown? And, you know how sometimes that can be a little exciting? This novel is kind of like that. The dual voiced narrative moves quickly and establishes its punk-rock credentials early, for the sake of readers who care about that kind of thing. I wouldn't want to read a sequal, though, since I probably wouldn't want to hang out with Nick and Norah too much.