David Levithan
David Levithan (born September 7, 1972) is an American young adult fiction author and editor.[1] His first book, Boy Meets Boy, was published by Knopf Books for Young Readers in 2003.[1] He has written numerous works featuring strong male gay characters, most notably Boy Meets Boy and Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List.[2]
David Levithan | |
---|---|
Levithan at the 2018 Texas Teen Book Festival | |
Born | Short Hills, Millburn, New Jersey, United States | September 7, 1972
Occupation | Writer, editor |
Nationality | American |
Education | Double major in English and Political Science |
Alma mater | Brown University |
Period | 2003–present |
Genre | Young adult fiction; fantasy, supernatural fiction |
Notable works |
|
Notable awards | Lambda Literary Award 2003 Boy Meets Boy Lambda Literary Award 2006 The Full Spectrum |
Website | |
davidlevithan |
Early life and career
Levithan was born in Short Hills, New Jersey, to a family of Jewish background.[3] At nineteen, Levithan received an internship at Scholastic Corporation where he began working on The Baby-sitters Club series. Levithan still works for Scholastic as an editorial director. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a young-adult imprint of Scholastic Press focusing on new voices and new authors.[1] PUSH publishes edgier material for young adults and is where Patricia McCormick got her start with 2002's Cut.[4]
In an interview with Barnes & Noble, Levithan said that he learned how to write books that were both funny and touching from Judith Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. He continues to work as both a writer and editor saying, "I love editing just as much, if not more than writing".[4]
Three of Levithan's novels have been made into films. His first collaboration with Rachel Cohn, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, was published in 2006 and adapted for the big screen in 2008. Levithan's 2012 novel of the same name was adapted into Every Day, a romantic fantasy drama, released in 2018. His second collaboration with Rachel Cohn, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List, was published in 2007 and adapted into a film of the same name in 2015.
Levithan has been a resident of Hoboken, New Jersey.[5]
In 2016, Levithan won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for The Realm of Possibility, Boy Meets Boy, Love Is the Higher Law, How They Met and Other Stories, Wide Awake, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.[6]
Works
Novels
- 10 Things I Hate About You (Junior novelization of the 1999 film) (1999) [7]
- Boy Meets Boy (2003)
- The Realm of Possibility (2004)
- We There Yet? (novel)|Are We There Yet? (2005)
- Marly's Ghost: A Remix of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, illustrated by Brian Selznick (2005)
- Wide Awake (2006)
- How They Met (2008)
- Love is the Higher Law (2009)
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-written with John Green (2010)
- The Lover's Dictionary (2011)
- Every You, Every Me (2011)
- Every Day (2012)
- Invisibility, co-written with Andrea Cremer (2013)
- Two Boys Kissing (2013)
- Another Day (2015)
- Hold Me Closer (2015)
- You Know Me Well, co-written with Nina LaCour (2016)
- Someday (2018)
- 19 Love Songs, story/essay collection (2020)
With Rachel Cohn
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2006)
- Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (2007)
- Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (2010)
- The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily (2016)
- Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah (2018)
With John Green
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson (2010)
With David Ozanich and Chris Van Etten
- Likely Story (2008)
- Likely Story: All That Glitters (2008)
- Likely Story: Red Carpet Riot (2009)
Anthologies and novels edited
- You Are Here, This is Now: The Best Young Writers and Artists in America: A Push Anthology (2002)
- Friends: Stories about New Friends, Old Friends and Unexpectedly True Friends, ed. with Ann M. Martin (2005)
- When We Are, What We See: A Push Anthology (2005)
- The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Other Identities, ed. with Billy Merrell (2006)
- 21 Proms, ed. with Daniel Ehrenhaft (2007)
- We Are Quiet, We Are Loud: The best young writers and artists in America: a Push anthology (2008)
- How to Say Goodbye in Robot, a novel by Natalie Standiford (2009)
Short works
- "The Alumni Interview" (2004), short story in Sixteen: Stories About That Sweet and Bitter Birthday, edited by Megan McCafferty[8]
- "The Good Girls", essay in Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, eds. Melissa De la Cruz and Tom Dolby (2007)
- How They Met, and Other Stories (2008)
- "A Word From the Nearly Distant Past" (2009), story in How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity
- "Quiz Bowl Antichrist", story in Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd (2009)
- "The Skeleton Keeper", story in Bones: Terrifying Tales to Haunt Your Dreams (2010)
- "Your Temporary Santa", story in My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, edited by Stephanie Perkins.
- "Day 3196", a story about the character A, from the Every Day trilogy, first published in the National Book Store edition of Someday (2018)
References
- "David Levithan". October 30, 2008. Gale Database. Contemporary Authors Online. UWM Golda Meir Library, Milwaukee. July 1, 2009.
- "Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List". www.goodreads.com.
- "JBooks.com - Interviews and Profiles: David Levithan: "Teen Literature Kicks Ass"". jbooks.com.
- Friedman, Robin. "The write stuff". New Jersey Jewish News (Whippany). July 2, 2009.
- Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Random House. Accessed October 6, 2015. "He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey."
- NGILBERT (23 January 2017). "2016 Edwards Award".
- 10 Things I Hate About You. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0439087309
- "'Sixteen: Stories About That Sweet and Bitter Birthday: Product Details". Amazon.com. May 25, 2004. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Levithan. |
- Official website
- PUSH
- David Levithan at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- David Levitan at Library of Congress Authorities, with 33 catalog records