The Realm of Possibility

"The Realm of Possibility" is a young adult novel by David Levithan, told through a series of interconnected free verse monologues from the perspectives of twenty different high school students. It explores the complexities of adolescent life, including first loves, heartbreak, identity formation, friendship, and navigating challenging personal circumstances. Themes include LGBTQ+ relationships, mental health struggles like anorexia, peer pressure, and the search for belonging. Parents should be aware of mature themes such as sexual activity, smoking, and marijuana use, which are handled with sensitivity within the context of realistic teenage experiences. This book is ideal for mature middle schoolers and high schoolers (ages 13+) who appreciate character-driven stories and lyrical prose.

Here’s what I know about the realm of possibility— it is always expanding, it is never what you think it is. Everything around us was once deemed impossible. From the airplane overhead to the phones in our pockets to the choir girl putting her arm around the metalhead. As hard as it is for us to see sometimes, we all exist within the realm of possibility. Most of the limits are of our own world’s devising. And yet, every day we each do so many things that were once impossible to us. Enter The Realm of Possibility and meet a boy whose girlfriend is in love with Holden Caulfield; a girl who loves the boy who wears all black; a boy with the perfect body; and a girl who writes love songs for a girl she can’t have. These are just a few of the captivating characters readers will get to know in this intensely heartfelt new novel about those ever-changing moments of love and heartbreak that go hand-in-hand with high school. David Levithan plumbs the depths of teenage emotion to create an amazing array of voices that readers won’t forget. So, enter their lives and prepare to welcome the realm of possibility open to us all. Love, joy, and these stories will linger