the realm of possibility

Title: the realm of possibility
Author: David Levithan
Pub Date: 2004
Pages: 210
Genre: Young Adult, LGBT, Poetry as Prose
Challenges: YA, LGBT

the realm of possibility (all lowercase, peeps) is a novel of twelve teens all written individually in poetry as prose. Each chapter opens with the names of four different characters and their stories follow. You've got the chick who loves Holden Caulfield and her boyfriend who is just over it because OBVIOUSLY he cannot compete. You've got the gay teen who found love for the first time and is about to celebrate a first anniversary... (OR) one of my favorites, the girl who goes from writing on her desk then to the walls and eventually on herself as a form of expression.

I dogged eared the ever-living creative life outta this book. And, folks, I am not a dog-earing kinda gal. In fact, I never do it. I detest it. But something overcame me as I squished down the first corner of the first poem that made me *sigh*. Was it something of ownership? I knew that I wanted to never part with this copy and I wanted it to look worn, loved, and read. I needed my prints, my caress, my crass all over the book. I might have licked it had I not picked it up from bookmooch and didn't know the previous owner. OK. OK. I'm going a little overboard.

I cannot really go into much more because it's the emotions that make this such an enjoyable read. I will say that if you're not familiar with David Levithan, get with it peeps. He's right up there with John Green. And if you haven't been introduced to Green's work then you've got a lot of catching up to do!!

Now I really want to share the one entitled "Writing", which is the narrative of the girl who begins carving words on desks and slowly moves to writing on her arms. But it's too long. And a smidgen of it would not suffice. So, I'm sharing a piece of another.

OK. Here's a glimpse of what you can find in the 200 pages:

Possibility

Here's what I know about the realm of possibility -
it is always expanding, it is never what you think
it is. Everything around us was once deemed
impossible. From the airplane overhead to
the phones in our pockets to the choir girl
putting her arm around the metalhead.
As hard as it is for us to see sometimes, we all exist
within the realm of possibility. Most of the limits
are of our own world's devising. And yet,
every day we each do so many things
that were once impossible to us.