Part I: Bibliographic information
Type: Fiction
Title: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Writer: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Copyright Date: 2006
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0375835318
Genre/subgenre: YA Novel/Romance
Interest Age: 13+
Reading Level: Upper Grades (UG 9-12)
Pages: 183
Awards: Even better -- it was optioned for a screenplay and became a movie.
Part I: Reader’s Annotation, Plot Summary, Critical Evaluation
Reader’s Annotation -- A night at a club leads to an unlikely connection between the lovelorn Nick and the too cool for school Norah who have more in common with each other than they imagine. They spend the night looking for a show by a band they both love -- and escaping their semi-exes who are both less than perfect matches.
Plot Summary -- Nick is playing a gig at a New York club with a band that he plays the bass for. He sees his ex-girlfriend Tris in the audience with another guy and almost loses his cool. After the gig, he tries to avoid her but she’s determined to get in his space. He’s still stuck on her but wants desperately not to have an encounter so he asks a random girl who is sitting at the bar to be his girlfriend for five minutes. She says no.
Norah is at the bar owned by one of her record producer father’s former business allies. She’s been forbidden to be there due to a falling out but Norah seems to be making her own rules not that she’s out of high school. She wants to go to African and work on a kibbutz instead of attending Brown, where she’s been accepted. Her parents are not keen on the idea. She’s lives in an upscale suburb and attended private Catholic school where she met her best friend Caroline, her bff, and Tris, Nick’s ex who he’s still hung up on, badly.
So Norah decides to suddenly starts kissing Nick after all -- as Tris walks up to them. Norah can’t believe what a good kisser he is. She likes it but doesn’t really want to. And when she realizes who Nick is -- Tris ex-schmuck boyfriend -- she’s almost disgusted with herself. But she’s too concerned about getting a ride home for Caroline and herself so she decides to work Nick for a ride. It turns out he has a broken down Yugo that won’t start and it’s only because Nick’s bandmates pull up in their van to jump them that it goes. Meanwhile Caroline passes out in the backseat. And, Nick’s buddy Thom approaches Norah and offers her $50 to take Nick out on the town -- they like her and decide she’s the cure to his heartache. Norah agree and a night on the town begins -- and eventually ends in the way that all involved are hoping (exes excepted).
Critical Evaluation -- Norah is tough on the outside. She’s witty but with a sharp edge. But what reveals more about her person is her concern for Caroline, her drunken friend. She’d pass up a chance to see a favorite band to get her bff home safely. Nick is the sort of guy that seems to be single-mindedly involved in his music. But his interior life is reach and he’s sensitive -- or ‘emo’ to use a more popular label. He still loves his ex to a point of unhealthiness -- he thinks about her all the time. So when the two meet Norah that feels sorry for him since she knows Tris has cheated and is a user of guys. Norah thinks that women like Tris ruin guys and make them wary of women. She tempted to try to prove that’s wrong by dating him for a short time and parting ways. Nick is still almost not capable of thinking of anything but Tris.
As the night goes on they struggle to find a reclusive band they both love. Meanwhile, Tris cannot seem to be gone from the picture and Caroline disappears while totally drunk. The dual adventures of avoiding Tris and finding Caroline makes for an interesting adventure and also a bonding experience between the two newly introduced characters. His pathetic obsession with a girl who obviously cares nothing about him and Norah’s torn personality that is both drawn and repulsed by Nick becomes the groundwork for a meaningful and realistic story about not first but second love. The authors found a way to make collaboration work seamlessly and scored a homerun with this short but sweet work of young adult fiction.
Part III: Author Info
Rachel Cohn is the author of a dozen young adult novels. Three are in collaboration with David Levithan, including Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist (2006), Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List (2007), Dash & Lily's Book of Dares with D (2010). Wikipedia lists the following as her Personal Information: “Rachel grew up near DC, and attended Barnard College, Manhattan at the age of 17. She graduated with a B.A. in Political Science, thinking she wanted to be a journalist.[1] Instead, she moved to San Francisco - where Gingerbread was set - to work at a law firm and began writing. After moving back to New York City,Gingerbread was published followed by a number of other books, often about a strong, witty female protagonist” (Rachel, n.d.).
David Levithan is often writes short, to the point biographical profiles. Goodreads offers this about him: “David Levithan (born 1972) is an American children's book editor and award-winning author. He published his first YA book, Boy Meets Boy, in 2003. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a Young Adult imprint of Scholastic Press (About, n.d.).
Part IV: Curriculum Ties, Diversity, Booktalk Ideas, Challenge Issues
Curriculum Ties, if any -- The main character Nick is headed to Berkeley School of Music in Boston. There are a lot of musical references and music in this movie It’s certainly not academic but some aspects touch on the realities of the contemporary music scene.
Diversity of Cultures -- Set in contemporary New York City, the movie has three young gay characters -- the guys in Nick’s band and a boyfriend of Dev’s -- that are portrayed in a way that’s not stereotypical fashion. It’s refreshing and worth mentioning because it’s fairly unique in fiction -- and even YA fiction.
Booktalking Ideas -- Nick is a complete mess at the beginning of the night over his previous girlfriend. Yet in the course of the night he finds an unexpected connection with Nora, the antithesis of his ex. What are the lessons hidden in this work about the nature of young love?
Challenge Issues -- There is sexuality, underage drinking and abuse of alcohol, references drug use and profanity in this work.
Part V: Reasons chosen
David Levithan seems to make some awesome decisions when it comes to collaboration and Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist (2006) is no exception. This work written with Rachel Cohn is certainly one of his best efforts. The two obviously share an appreciation for music as well as a gift for developing young-adult themes. Music is something that is a building block of teen culture, now and probably forever. Another driver of YA success is character and the two richly drawn characters are painted with sensitivity and originality. And, they both buck the boy-girl stereotypes too often found in YA literature. This is mostly a reflection of the fact that Levithan wrote the Nick portions of the book and Cohn the Nora parts.
These two experienced, sophisticated authors brought their stamp to these characters. Nick is the quirky, semi-square creative type. Nora the strong but uncertain female who dreams of something different but isn’t sure that it’s out there. The fact that Nick’s friends are three gay musicians who want him to find happiness as a straight guy is also very original and outside the box.. And, Nora is a straight line as in no drugs or drinking. They both love that same music and connect through it but the story is deeper than music alone. It’s about individuality and creativity as well. And it’s realistic as opposed to fantasy. Realism is not necessarily popular in YA these days so it is refreshing to find a work that succeeds in this arena. The whole story takes place in one evening on the town but we feel we’ve met and know Nick and Nora. It’s simply a well crafted work and it’s no surprise it was opted for production as a film.
Part VI: Citations
Rachel Cohn. (n.d.) Wikipedia [website]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Cohn
About this author. (n.d.) Goodreads [website]. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11664.David_Levithan
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