I feel like I’ve been reading really long, heavy books lately and I was ready for a change. It’s not that they’re not good (on the contrary, they’ve been great!), it’s just that they really weigh down my beach bag and I needed a book that didn’t leave deep, red grooves in my shoulder. I searched my local library (yes, I still use the public library and I LOVE IT. Who doesn’t love FREE STUFF?) high and low for a short, YA read. And I found a fantastic one!

“Love is the Higher Law” is by David Levithan, one of my favorite young adult authors (cha-ching!) and takes its name from U2 lyrics I’ve always loved (double cha-ching!). David is a lifelong New Yorker, who was obviously deeply affected by the tragic events of 9/11. He decided to write this book both as a way to get out his emotions over that traumatic day, and also because he doesn’t think there are enough books about it. Not that he thinks people should abuse a tragedy for the sake of literature, of course, but because he wanted to make sure that day was preserved so in the future, children who were babies in 2001 can read a primary account of what happened.

The novel focuses on three main characters – Claire, Jasper and Peter – and switches between their points of view. They are all loosely intertwined, but become much closer after 9/11. The book goes through how each of the three experience the day and then also how it changes them after. Claire is in her high school class when the planes hit and runs to her little brother’s elementary school. Afterward, she can’t return home for a week and finds herself wandering the streets of New York late at night, looking for reasons and hope. Jasper slept through the whole thing. His parents were in Korea and so he is forced to deal with everything alone. Peter was in line to buy the new Bob Dylan album. All of them experience 9/11 in ways only a New Yorker can: Two pillars that figuratively held up their hometown have been destroyed and they question everything they knew and completely reassess. Read More »

What were you doing in 2001?I was a freshman with bangs, light wash denim and an aversion to beer (I preferred Smirnoff Ice). I had a desk top that was connected to the Ethernet by a long cord that went from under my desk, around the perimeter of my room, up the wall and into a jack under my roommate’s bed.

And I had no freaking clue what Google was.

A lot has changed since 2001 in my life (I got wireless and some dark wash jeans), and in the world. It is hard to realize how different everything is unless you have the ability to go back and look. And thanks to the boys at Google, you can. Those guys saved the entire Google index from ’01, which means you can travel back in time and Google like it’s 2001.

Isn’t that a Prince song?

Anyways, if you have a break between classes….or are completely bored during class, try Googling your name. Or the World Trade Center. Or Britney Spears.

It is sorta freaking me out.