The Lover's Dictionary

The Lover’s Dictionary

Written by: David Levithan

Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Reading Level: Made for adults but can be read by teens

The Lover’s Dictionary is an Alex Award Winner.  This book is told in dictionary form.  It starts with A’s and continues all the way to the Z’s.  The first word that appears in this books is aberrant.  You would think that this book is an actual dictionary with actual definitions, but it is the story of a relationship with each word describing a piece of that relationship.  I found myself very confused when reading it because I wasn’t sure whether it was told in the perspective of a man or a woman.  I soon realized that it was told by both but I had trouble figuring out which gender was currently telling their story.  This book explores all the elements of love in alphabetical order.  Any adult, and maybe even teen in love or in a relationship will be able to relate with this book, the characters and the way they are feeling.  Each word may have an impact on the reader to where they can read the word and the text under it and say “I have felt like that before!” or even “Hey, that is what I am feeling right now!”  In this book you will see many ups and downs in the relationship like you would in every relationship and you will keep wondering if the couple will end up still being together or breaking up.  I really enjoyed this book and found myself being able to relate to the characters.  Being in a relationship myself, I can understand some of the things these characters are going through.  Also, I was able to learn new words that I didn’t know before, as well as finally be able to find the word to describe what I had been feeling at some points during my relationship.  This is the perfect book for a parent and a child to read because although it might be awkward, they will both be able to relate and maybe even have something to talk about and bond over.  This book will have every emotion you can feel in a relationship.  It captured the essence of most relationships.  I recommend this book to any adult and even to teens.