Levithan << LEHV ih than >> , David (1972-…), is an American author, editor, and publisher of books for young adults. He is known for his novels featuring strong gay male characters.
Levithan co-wrote the best-selling novel Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2006) with the American author Rachel Cohn. He wrote from a boy’s perspective in the novel, and Cohn wrote from a girl’s perspective. The novel tells the story of two high-school seniors who fall in love while attending punk rock clubs one night in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The book was made into a popular motion picture of the same name in 2008. Levithan and Cohn also co-wrote the novels Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List (2007), about a boy whose relationship with his friend becomes complicated when he kisses her boyfriend; and Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (2010), about a 16-year-old girl who, longing for love, leaves a notebook on the shelf of her favorite bookstore describing various dares, in the hope of meeting a boy who will accept her challenge. The book was followed by a sequel, The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily (2016), by Levithan and Cohn.
Levithan also co-wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson (2010) with the popular American author John Green, about two boys with the same name whose lives intersect in unexpected ways. Levithan wrote the companion novel, Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story (2015), about a gay character first introduced in Will Grayson, Will Grayson who writes a musical based on his own life.
Levithan was born on Sept. 7, 1972, in Short Hills, New Jersey. He graduated from Brown University in 1994 with B.A. degrees in political science and English. At the age of 19, he accepted an internship at Scholastic Corporation, an educational publisher. Levithan has worked at the company since then. He became an editor, and then vice president, publisher, and editorial director at Scholastic. Levithan’s first novel, Boy Meets Boy, was published in 2003. It tells the story of a teenage boy who falls in love with another boy at his high school in their hometown in New Jersey.
Levithan has written many other novels for young adults, including The Realm of Possibility (2004); Are We There Yet (2005); Marly’s Ghost (2006, illustrated by the American illustrator Brian Selznick); The Lover’s Dictionary (2011); Every You, Every Me (2011, with photographs by the American photographer Jonathan Farmer); Every Day (2012) and its companion novel, Another Day (2015); Invisibility (2013, co-written with the American author Andrea Cremer); Two Boys Kissing (2013); and You Know Me Well (2016, co-written with the American author Nina LaCour). Levithan has also written or edited a number of nonfiction books, including The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities (2006, co-edited with Billy Merrell), an anthology of true stories by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) writers under the age of 23.
