A Book With Many Questions by Marina

A Book With Many Questions by Marina - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

I read many books throughout high school, required and not required, and many of the books have changed my perception of life. I always liked the books that made me think about real life issues, related to me in some way, or made me think of something in a totally new way. One book I read on my own time was Every Day by David Levithan. Every Day really impacted my view on gender identity in today's society and also influenced me to expand my knowledge of gender. The book not only covered gender identity questions but also personal things that people in different environments go through.

Throughout the book Levithan writes of a character known as A, who knows no gender. The character A wakes up in a different body every single day. Sometimes A is a boy and sometimes A is a girl. No matter how many different bodies A wakes up in A falls in love with the same girl and the story essentially goes through the difficulties of falling in love with the one same girl no matter what body A hops into.

While Every Day is a love story it also poses many different questions to the reader and keeps the reader involved in deep and critical thinking. The topic of gender is brought up because the reader questions if gender really matters. If A is in fact in love with the same girl but can not keep the same body for more than a day then does gender matter? Does the fact that sometimes A is a boy and sometimes A is a girl inhibit A from loving? The book allows the reader to question gender identities and their personal beliefs throughout the novel because of the gender aspect.

Every Day also talks about the different environments people are exposed to and how it affects the person. The book lets the reader journey through different peoples’ minds and teaches the reader that it really is not just about what is on the outside. Humans cannot see in other peoples’ minds and Every Day gives readers a chance to realize that there is more to a person than their appearances.

High Schools should require Every Day to be read in classrooms in ninth grade because of the many important questions it poses. At the ninth grade level many teenagers are trying to form their own opinions and to be exposed to Every Day students will be given the chance to expand their minds and opinions. Levithan successfully created a piece of writing that have not only teens but adults questioning what they believe.