Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan [book]
New York : Knopf, 2007, c2006183 p. ; 21 cm
ISBN: 9780375835339
Plot Summary:
For Nick music is his life... and his ex was his life until she broke up with him. Norah's life is about getting ready for college, handling her best friend, and getting over her ex. Over the course of one night that Nick's band plays at a club Nick and Norah chance meet and spend the entire night together. After Nick's band plays he gets ready to watch the next show when he ex starts to approach him to say hello, in a flurry Nick asks if Norah (a stranger next to him) if she will pretend to be his girlfriend and they kiss. It also turns that Norah is semi- friends with Nick's ex girlfriend and that she has inadvertently already had the pleasure of hearing his mixed tapes that he made for her (she loves them). They leave the club because Norah needs a ride home for her and her friend, but Nick's car won't work at first so Nick's friends, in an attempt to fix Nick and Norah up, take Norah's best friend with them to drop her off. When alone Nick and Norah struggle with their ideas of liking one another and leaving the ghosts of their exes behind. Later in the night Norah encounters her ex, who just returned to the country, and he insults her in front of Nick, letting Nick see a more vulnerable side to Norah that she had hidden previously.
They go from club to club to restaurant to walking the streets of New York until sunrise. Their witty banter, their incorrigible friends and their constant run ins with their exes make for interesting adventures and conversation.
Critical Evaluation:
The entire book takes place over the span of one night, so it is short and sweet. The authors are wonderful in speaking for their similarly gendered characters, and the book has a constant flow from each character and the way that they think. I felt as if this book could give hope to people who were getting over being in love and having it not work out. I thought that the language was easy to read, and that there were a lot of curse words- but it fit the punk rock theme of the book. It was nice to hear both sides of the story in hearing the constant thoughts of Nick and Norah throughout the storyline together; it makes the audience feel as if they understand the whole story better and how different girls and boys may think.
Reader's Annotation:
Nick and Norah meet for a night under the pretense of being in a fake relationship... but as the night continues on it might not prove to be fake for much longer.
Websites to Look Into:
http://www.rachelcohn.com/
http://www.davidlevithan.com/
The Authors:
The authors were friends and Rachel came up with the idea for the novel. David ran with it and they wrote the novel by writing it chapter by chapter and sending it back and forth to each other.
Similar Books:
"Dash and Lily's Book of Dares" by Rachel Cohn
"The Realm of Possibility" by David Levithan
"How they Met and Other Stories" by David Levithan
Booktalking Ideas:
The fact that the book takes place over 1 night- how many things can change in a time span
Gathering a list of other books that take place over a night or day and comparing them
Genre:
Realistic Fiction/ Romance
Interest Age:
15+
Challenge Issues:
Sexuality & Language
The book does contain profane language, but it is befitting of the punk scene that they are in and many of the songs that they listen to, so I think that it is relevant to the book. The sexuality that takes place is all implied and/ or thought of, so there is not any real sex going on the book- just memories and thoughts about doing it, which most young adults have.
Why this Book?
This book can be for either a boy or a girl and I think that the subject matter of attempting to get over an ex is important and relevant to this young generation.
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