Monday, January 3, 2011

BOOK: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan, 260 pages

What's in a Name 4? travel or movement category

Aw, such a sweet book. Lily and Dash don't know each other, but both are teens in New York City, leading relatively parental free lives over Christmas. They play a game of adventures passing a red moleskin notebook back and forth. Many adventures follow as they get to know each other through their writing.

Cohn and Levithan have perfected their his-and-her story telling with Dash and Lily. Previous books: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, and Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List. I liked this one the best, maybe because Dash and Lily seem most unworldly of all the couples they've written about. Both characters are wonderfully written, with strong family and friends around them. The back and forth worked perfectly, and it's the kind of book that's really hard to put down (thanks Christmas holidays!) since you don't know any more than the characters where they are headed. There were some very funny scenes, like the Crimson Alert after a bad snowball fight, and I also enjoyed the tours of New York City. The Strand is a real book store, right? I would love to go there. And I don't know if I would have appreciated the whole O.E.D episode without having read this book.

Excellent book to be starting the new year with. If you are looking for a great realistic young adult book, this is the one.