David Levithan, an author of one of his award winning books, ‘Love is the Higher Law’, created a book of connection, compassion, loss, grief and hope, within the present setting of 9/11. He originally published this book, eight years after the incident happened, in 2001. ‘Love is the Higher Law’, is considered a Young-Adult Fiction book, and shows a theme of compassion. Every character that includes main, side, or background, shows a sense of belonging and care towards each other.
Diving into the writing context of the book, it shows multiple perspectives of the three characters, and may repeat certain chapters’ events, as it moves on. Huge warning, some of the language used, may not be appropriate to certain ages of young-adults. Also, keep an open-mind of each of the character’s perspectives, because you might relate to them later on!
Within this work of fiction, it includes Claire, Peter, & Jasper, who all have a bond with one another. Claire and Jasper are seniors in high school, while Jasper is a college sophomore. All of the people within this story lived in New York, and witnessed the visual tragedy of the World Trade Centers collapsing. As we move forward, you’ll notice their various perspectives about the event that just took place, along with additional events forming their friendships.
As a reader, this book was rather interesting. Not only did I see every characters’ perspectives, but the pros and cons of each. Out of the main three by far, Claire seems to be favored more. She is a character to relate towards, because she holds immense compassion and care for others. “This, I think, is how people survive: Even when horrible things have been done to us, we can still find gratitude in one another.” (David 76). - Leviathan, David. Love is the Higher Law. New York City. 2009
However, the book shows more of Jasper and Peter’s perspectives of each other. The reasoning being, is to show their building of a relationship, and how the event came to be. For example, in the chapter involving their date, it shows a visual awkwardness of a beginning. As we move later on, the time gives both a chance to forgive and connect better. “Maybe it’s because even though our first date was one of the biggest messes I’ve been party to, it was also one of the most intense dates I’ve ever been on, and I used to think that it was entirely because of the events of the week, but now I’m wondering if maybe you and I didn’t have something to do with it too.” (David 140).
- Leviathan, David. Love is the Higher Law. New York City. 2009
Through the author’s tone of this book, I primarily disagree with involving inappropriate parts towards it. There seems to be an overload of cursing for Jasper, and the thoughts of flirting, doesn’t make a connection as a reader. It can feel uncomfortable to read for certain audiences, but everything else is approving. “Usually I treated dates like they were chess matches, trying to plan my moves a little bit ahead, carefully deciding which conversational pieces to deploy, willing to sacrifice pawns of small talk if it would get my opponent to fall in love with my king.” (David 58).
- Leviathan, David. Love is the Higher Law. New York City. 2009
Many of the possibilities the book suggests, includes: Debris and smoke particles still around the area of New York, victims of the attack, and the everlasting compassion for people. To look into greater detail, each character explains how dangerous and poisonous the sniffing of these particles can impact themselves. “They said it wasn’t poisonous, but it smelled poisonous.” (David 102).
- Leviathan, David. Love is the Higher Law. New York City. 2009
They even described in visual words, of how destructive and sad, the debris of the World Trade Centers seem. For victims of the attack, Jasper acknowledges them in different ways. For example, at his attendance within the concert, he mentioned how similar the number 6,000 was for both the audience, and cost lives of people. “I’m imagining all the people who died sitting in our rows, form the front row of the orchestra to the last row of the third balcony, and because of the gold-plated walls and the glowing lights and the red velvet chairs, it’s both indescribably depressing and inexplicably magisterial.” (David 86).
- Leviathan, David. Love is the Higher Law. New York City. 2009
Lastly, compassion is found for all three characters. Whether that be Jasper with his emails from multiple people, or Claire helping to light candles for the lady, they all felt the feeling of sincerity.
Compared to other authors’ books about the topic of 9/11, David Levithan presents people within the LGBTQ+ community. You don’t often see books with these characters, and sadly, they aren’t addressed enough in certain events. Many examples of 9/11 books include “Nine, Ten:”, “Eleven”, “The Memory of Things'', “Towers Falling'', and “We All Fall Down”. All of these books related to the topic are great to read, but don’t include specific people within this community.
The book affected me in a way, from a different person’s perspective. Not only did I see people of witnesses, but people of connection. It made me change my perspective on certain points of humanity. I read that many people were both respectful and disrespectful about the situation. It makes you think deeper about their experiences. Personally, I deep dived into this topic, in my eighth grade year. ‘Love is the Higher Law’, gave a reminder of my memories with my history teacher. She made us become better critical thinkers, and more interested to learn about this topic.
Although this book sits between the various perspectives of different readers, it’s important to know about this topic. You become more open-minded to others, and learn many personal thoughts. If you’re planning to read this book in the future, keep in mind to take in certain points of information. Whether appropriate or not, enjoy your reading while it lasts!
- Leviathan, David. Love is the Higher Law. New York City. 2009
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