Every Day

Fiction | Novel | YA

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Essay Topics

A has lived as an outsider all of their life. Who else in the novel is an outsider, and what forces have pushed these characters to the margins?

A has never had their own body; his/her life depends upon the body in which s/he wakes up. In which bodies is A most comfortable and happy? What makes A happy in these lives? In which lives is A most uncomfortable and unhappy? What makes A unhappy in these bodies?

Two relationships in the book, Vic and Dawn’s, and Zara and Amelia’s, stand out as ideal relationships. What makes their relationships work?

A’s experience living in many different bodies has allowed him/her a diverse and broad worldview, allowing A to realize how people are often more similar than society may think. However, other characters seem trapped and blinded by their worldviews, focusing on the differences among people, and in some cases even choosing to demonize difference. Compare and contrast A with another character suffering this type of blindness.

There are forty-one sixteen-year-old characters in the novel, not including A. A believes that people are “98%” similar to each other (77). What sorts of similarities run through most of these young people’s lives?

Why is A drawn to Rhiannon? How does A define love? How does Rhiannon define love? Are their definitions compatible?

Justin is the first character that A inhabits in the novel. Alexander is one of the last characters that A inhabits. Compare and contrast Justin and Alexander.

A leads a difficult and often lonely life. What provides joy for and/or comforts A?

How does technology connect A and Rhiannon? How does it separate them?

10.

Research the books that A recommends to Rhiannon: Feed, by M.T. Anderson; The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak; Destroy All Cars, by Blake Nelson; and First Day on Earth, by Cecil. Why do you think A recommends these books? Also consider some of the other texts that are referred to in the novel: the children’s books Harold and the Purple Crayon and The Giving Tree; Judy Blume’s Forever; and S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. Why are these books significant to A?