Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan

Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan

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. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever.

Review:

This book is small – only 167 pages in length – but the story Levithan has produced about the tragic 9/11 incident will get under your skin and really get you thinking.

When I started this book, the beginning was quite hard to read – tears pricked my eyes, goosebumps formed on my skin – but luckily the actual event and description was only at the very start. The rest of the story follows three teenagers, Claire, Jasper and Peter, during the aftermath of the event and how they come to terms to deal.

The story is told in alternating chapters between the three teens about them coming to terms with their lives After the event and them trying to move forward in their lives.

During the tragic time, even though what was happening was horrific, it was heart-warming to see everybody coming together and helping each other out.

Rating 3/5