The Lover's Dictionary (2011) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 5 stars

“Recommended ages 18 and up.
Cute and true about relationships. Tells the story of a pair of lovers through the use of dictionary entries. Also, short--only took me about an hour to read.”

• Rated 5 stars

“This is a love story. The love story itself is not extraordinary, it is not a story of "star-crossed lovers" or a perfect love with a happy ending. Rather, it is the story of a completely average couple and their progression from first date to exclusivity to living together and beyond. It is the story you or I could have with out significant others.

What really makes this book profound is that instead of telling the story chronoligically it tells it by showing us those bits and pieces of the relationship that mean the most; the simple things between a couple that make their story unique to them but evoke the emotions that we all can connect to within our own relationships.

This is really an intimate look at the relationship that is reminiscent of diary entries. There are some philosophical musings as well as more mundane definitions that serve to give a complete picture of a relationship.

encroach,v.
The first three nights we spent together, I couldn't sleep. I wasn't used to your breathing, your feet on my legs, your weight in the bed. In truth, I still sleep better when I'm alone. But now I allow that sleep isn't always the most important thing.



corrode, v.
I spent all this time building a relationship. Then one night I left the window open, and it started to rust.



ineffable, adj.
These words will ultimately end up being the barest of reflections, devoid of the sensations words cannot convey. Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life. No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough.



I really loved this book. I loved the concept, I thought the writing was beautiful and intimate and relatable. It's a love story that could be anyone's and that's a big part of what makes it so beautiful. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“A story told through word choices in the dictionary. The description of the moment in the relationship follows the as the word's definition. Highly inventive. How could one get a picture and a story through simple word entries? It works. Trust me. This story works.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Such a great exploration of relationship in a clever, clever format.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Clever storytelling best represented in the first line defining "circuitous": we do not divulge our histories chronologically. Despite the non-linear narrative, I was able to picture their relationship of many years, from dating to marriage. It is perhaps this same ingenious framework that made it hard to put the book down, wanting to arrive at answers at every turn of the page. Not a favorite, plot-wise, but revolutionary.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Kept me enthralled and wishing I could read more of this story.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Age: YA
Theme: Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction
Awards: Alex Award
Ridiculously Short Summary: Boy meets girl, falls in love, astounds us with his vocab through alphabetic vignettes.
Summary: In "The Lover's Dictionary", a novel by David Levithan, we follow the love story between a girl and boy. We don't know the main character's names and clearly that is the author's intent, so that the story is relatable to all who read it. From "aberrant" to "zenith" we follow the main character as he depicts how he met and fell in love with his girlfriend. We also learn how doubts can bring on a "hiatus", the "panoply" of moving in together, the "sartorial" nature of a lovers quarrel, the philosophies of the letter 'x' and the "yearning" that everything could be but isn't perfect. This is a fun read but also truly poignant.
Cross Curricular Connections: Figuring out a way to organically teach vocabulary words is quiet difficult. Anything more creative than flashcards gets an "A" in my book. This novel figures out how to utilize and explain the definition of SAT words via love story vingettes and is a great way to incorporate word building skills for any teen.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Every now and then, you’ll read a book that completely resonates and moves you - and this book did that for me. This is a book about love and relationships and the various nuances of both. To be honest, I feel like the story was left open-ended - but isn’t that what love in real life is like? Who know where each of our stories will end? I love that this book made me think of things like this. An instant favorite.”

• Rated 3 stars

“A very quick read. Interestingly written. I found the plot though very lacking. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“I've now finished "The Lover's Dictionary," a novel, written in dictionary form; instead of proceeding chapter by chapter through a traditional narrative arc, it proceeds alphabetically from the entry for "aberrant, adj." through the entry for "zenith, n." I was enchanted by the sensitivity and candor with which Levithan paints romantic love, and by Levithan's obvious love of language -- another kind of loving enchantment that in "The Lover's Dictionary" is completely entangled in the enchantment of the narrator's affair. Levithan is a clever and touching observer; over the course of the book, I grew more and more to look forward to each dictionary entry. I've just checked out another of his books from our local library and very much look forward to reading it.”