Every Day by David Levithan Summary

Every Day by David Levithan follows A, a being who wakes up in a different body every single day, never spending more than 24 hours in the same life. The story transforms when A falls in love with Rhiannon, forcing them to navigate an impossible romance while confronting what it means to love someone when your own body, gender, and identity change daily.

Every Day is ideal for young adult readers interested in thought-provoking contemporary fiction that challenges conventional ideas about identity, love, and what defines us. Fans of LGBTQ+ literature, philosophical coming-of-age stories, and readers who enjoy books exploring empathy and human connection will find this novel particularly compelling.

Every Day is worth reading for its unique premise and emotional depth. David Levithan's New York Times bestselling novel offers a fresh perspective on identity politics and unconditional love by stripping away the physical constants that typically define us. The book raises profound questions about whether love transcends physical form while remaining accessible and engaging.

David Levithan is a New York Times bestselling author and Editorial Director at Scholastic who has written over 30 YA books featuring LGBTQ+ characters. His notable works include:

• Boy Meets Boy
• Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist with Rachel Cohn
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green
• Two Boys Kissing, which won the Lambda Literary Award

The central concept of Every Day explores what life would be like if you weren't defined by body, gender, or race. A exists without a fixed physical form, experiencing life through different people each day, which allows David Levithan to examine how much of our identity comes from our bodies versus our consciousness and choices.

Every Day dismantles traditional identity markers by presenting a protagonist who experiences life across different genders, races, and body types. A's daily transformations force readers to question what makes someone "themselves" when physical appearance constantly changes. This approach lets David Levithan explore whether our core self exists independent of our physical form and societal labels.

A discovers that genuine love challenges everything they've learned about survival and non-attachment. By falling for Rhiannon, A must confront whether authentic connection is possible when you can never maintain the same physical presence. The novel examines if love can exist purely as an emotional and intellectual bond when physical consistency is impossible.

Every Day explores identity fluidity, unconditional love, empathy, and what defines humanity. The novel tackles gender identity, body image, privilege across different bodies, and the nature of consciousness. David Levithan uses A's daily transformations to examine how we judge others based on appearance and how experiencing different lives can build profound empathy and understanding.

Another Day is David Levithan's companion novel to Every Day that retells the same story from Rhiannon's perspective. While Every Day follows A's experiences waking up in different bodies, Another Day reveals how Rhiannon processes this impossible relationship, providing readers with the other side of their love story and exploring how it feels to love someone who's never the same person twice.

Critics sometimes question the book's exploration of consent, as A inhabits bodies without the hosts' permission and pursues Rhiannon using borrowed identities. Some readers find the premise more theoretical than emotionally grounded, while others debate whether the novel fully addresses the ethical implications of A's existence and the invasion of privacy inherent in body-hopping without consent.

Every Day features David Levithan's signature exploration of LGBTQ+ themes and identity but with a more fantastical premise than his realistic novels like Boy Meets Boy or Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. Unlike his groundbreaking debut which presented an idealized queer world, Every Day uses speculative fiction to examine universal questions about love and identity that transcend traditional categorizations.

Every Day remains highly relevant as conversations about gender fluidity, non-binary identity, and the social construction of self have become increasingly mainstream. The novel's exploration of how we define ourselves beyond physical bodies resonates strongly in an era of digital identity, avatar culture, and evolving understanding of gender and identity as spectrums rather than fixed categories.