Love Is the Higher Law

by David Levithan

Book Overview

Bestselling author David Levithan (Every Day; Boy Meets Boy; Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) treats the tragic events of September 11th with care and compassion in this novel of loss and grief, but also of hope and redemption.

First there is a Before, and then there is an After. . . .

The lives of three teens--Claire, Jasper, and Peter--are altered forever on September 11, 2001...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375834699
• ISBN13: 9780375834691
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Didn't stay strong

In the beginning, the book was really, really good. The start is gripping and the introductions to the characters are just really good. But then the plot just kind of disappears, it drags, and overall just becomes boring and just like a bunch of questioning nonsense. I really liked the beginning, but it just didn't hold up.

Emotionally draining but worth it

I picked up this book because it was about the events of 9/11, from teen points of view. I was not expecting to really like it, because I have not "gotten into" the two other David Levithan books I have tried. This one was different. As I read the chapters by Claire, Jasper and Peter, I experienced the events of 9/11, as if I had been there in NYC, from the initial moments to about 18 months later. The book was emotional, thoughtful, and never boring. The relationship between Jasper and Peter was not too in-your-face for my sensibility, yet had enough substance to be true to itself. I would recommend this to any high school reader.

A gripping, realistic account comes to life

Many accounts of 9/11 have been written from adult experience and perspective: David Levithan's Love is the Higher Law comes from a teen's view and provides the lives of three teens altered forever by events of that day. A gripping, realistic account comes to life in a title highly recommended for any contemporary teen collection.

Affirms the connections that were forged on 9/11

As we recently commemorated the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many of us noted that we were surprised not only that the original emotions of that day can be called up so vividly, but that we are still functioning eight years later, now occupying a future that few of us could imagine on that horrific day. Young adult author David Levithan, recognizing the relative scarcity of fiction for young people centering on 9/11, realized recently that those who are teenagers now were in elementary school at the time of the attacks, that they may be in danger of losing both that immediacy of feeling and the context of understanding. LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW is his answer to that lack, as he poignantly tells the stories of three New York City teenagers who experienced the attacks in a variety of ways. Claire is in many ways the closest to the events, at least geographically; she and her family can't return to their downtown apartment after the towers fall. In the weeks following the attacks, she suffers from sleeplessness, walking the streets of her neighborhood, and, in one moving scene, helping a stranger relight the candles of a makeshift shrine at Union Square Park after they've been extinguished by a rainstorm. Peter is the only one of the three who witnesses the attacks; he's skipping school to buy the new Bob Dylan album when he sees the plane strike the second tower. He had been anticipating that Tuesday night up until then, looking forward almost giddily to a first date with a cute guy he just met. But in the aftermath of the attacks, Peter is not sure how, or whether, to love someone new. Jasper is the guy with whom Peter is supposed to go on that date; he feels oddly disconnected from the events of 9/11, since he slept through them, waking up in his Brooklyn home to find the towers already gone. At first, it's not clear how these three near-strangers are connected, but it becomes evident over time that they were all guests at what they dub "the last party of Before." When Claire and Jasper, both insomniacs, run into each other a few weeks after the attacks, they share what will strike many readers as one of those profound moments of connection, a friendship forged by their common yet deeply personal response to a tragedy. And, when Jasper and Peter reconnect at another party, their shared connection to 9/11 --- and to Claire --- gives their budding relationship a solemnity and urgency that it could never have had Before. The actual events of the September 11th attacks are confined to the 40 or so pages of the novel; the focus here is on how that day continued to shape actions, philosophies and personal decisions days, weeks and months later. A grieving Claire struggles with whether to shut out the world or to let it in, ultimately realizing that such a tragic event actually strengthened her appreciation for humanity: "I think that if you were somehow able to measure the weight of human kindness, it would have w

Exquisite!!!!!!!!!

What an exquisite work of fiction! David Levithan takes a significant date in history, September 11, 2001, and views it through the eyes of three young adults- high school students Claire and Peter and college student Jasper. The first three chapters are each of the characters describing September 11 in his or her own words. Each of them put tears in your eyes and a lump in your throat. But wait, there's more emotion to come as they describe the days to come and how they come through the entire experience. I have read other books about September 11 but none were as well written or as moving. Enjoy!

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Huge thanks to the girl who sat next to me on the bus to Chicago from ALA. She had this ARC in her hands when she boarded the bus for our 3 1/2 hour trip home, and she finished it by the time the trip was over. When I asked how she liked it, she nodded, I believe, then swallowed a lump in her throat, and offered me the book. Once again, thank you! Do you remember where you were on 9/11? The characters in LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW were all in New York City. So was David Levithan, and that experience was inspiration for this book. As Levithan points out in the Author's Note, many young people today may be too young to have first-hand memories of that world-changing day. By reading the experiences of Jasper, Peter, and Claire, perhaps the emotions of that day and its aftermath can be experienced by readers in the years to come. As the book begins, each character shares where they were and what it was like at the moment. Peter and Claire were affected immediately, while Jasper finds it difficult to admit that he slept through the actual attack and learned about it as he listened to Peter Jennings on the news. The personal experiences of the three become intertwined as the story continues. All three are surprised at how directly they feel the emotions of the event. The life they once took for granted, the city they've always known as home, and the atmosphere surrounding them have them asking questions that have no real answers. David Levithan captures the unique yet universal feelings inspired by the event that touched us all. Amidst the unanswered questions are feelings of greater appreciation for family and friends, the sympathy that goes out to those who lost and suffered most, and the human condition that connects the entire world. Unlike the teen who read the book in one sitting on the bus, I found the need to set it aside at times to sort through my own memories of that day and what has unfolded since. The world is truly a different place, and I've concluded I'm not sure if it is for the better or worse. Time will tell. Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"