Summary
Every Day begins with the sixteen-year-old narrator, A, waking up in an unfamiliar body. For as long as A can remember, A has woken up in the body of a new person each morning. A has no control over the gender, race, location, or appearance of each body, but they are always the same age as A. While occupying each body, A has access to the host person’s memories, which helps A navigate the day. Over the years, A has learned that it is impossible to prevent the switch to a new body every night. Even if A stays awake, A’s spirit involuntarily—and painfully—rips from the current body in order to move on to the next. A has accepted this existence, choosing to fall asleep before the switch each night, so that it occurs peacefully. Since A never wakes up in the same body twice, A tries to maintain a healthy detachment from each host person’s life.
At the start of the novel, A wakes up in the body of a male high school student named Justin. Justin is not someone A particularly likes—he is disorganized, insensitive, and unkind—but A resolves to respect Justin’s body and life regardless. After a rushed breakfast and a quick interaction with Justin’s parents, A heads to school.
At Justin’s locker, a girl anxiously approaches. A quickly identifies the girl as Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. Observing her tentative body language and expectant expression, A realizes that Justin treats Rhiannon poorly, often making her feel small and anxious in his presence. Although A has resolved to remain detached and doesn’t typically invest in the relationships of the hosts, A feels drawn to Rhiannon. When Rhiannon asks to meet at lunch, A agrees.
When Rhiannon finds A at lunchtime, A impulsively suggests they ditch the rest of the school day together. Rhiannon says she wants to see the ocean, so she and A head to the beach. In the car, A and Rhiannon sing along to pop songs, and A asks Rhiannon several questions about her life. It’s clear that Rhiannon isn’t used to connecting with Justin this way, so A’s attentiveness surprises her. When they arrive at the beach, A and Rhiannon build sandcastles, run into the crashing waves, and continue to converse deeply.
By the end of the day, A has made a deep emotional connection with Rhiannon. Because of this, A is especially despondent over leaving Justin's body. Although A wants to preserve the happy energy of the day, A also knows that it would be insensitive to leave Rhiannon with the false impression that Justin has changed. More likely than not, Justin will return to his body the next morning and continue to treat Rhiannon poorly, an outcome A wants to prepare Rhiannon for. To protect her feelings, A calls Rhiannon and tries to convey that not every day will be like the day they just shared at the beach. The phone call clearly disappoints Rhiannon, but she says she understands.
Before going to sleep, A logs into an email account they use to keep track of all the hosts. A writes down Justin’s name and contact information, as well as Rhiannon’s, and then deletes the search history from Justin's computer. Before falling asleep, A reflects on how much more difficult it is to leave now that they’ve made such a deep connection with Rhiannon. A prays to stay, even though this is impossible.
The next morning, A wakes up in the body of a girl named Leslie Wong. Through accessing Leslie’s memories and observing her surroundings, A can tell that Leslie is a rule-follower, and that she isn’t particularly popular. A also discovers that Leslie has an older brother named Owen, who will be driving them to school. Over the years, A has learned to be wary of siblings, as they tend to cause difficulties during A’s 24-hour-long stays. Throughout the course of the day, Owen proves to be this type of sibling.
On the way to school, A is surprised to see Owen smoking marijuana. Sensing that Leslie would not be surprised at this behavior, A does not comment. A does not see Owen again until the middle of the day, when the intercom calls Owen down to the principal’s office. Owen seeks A out in the hallway and explains that he has run away from the principal’s office. Handing over the keys to his car, Owen asks A to drive home after school and assess how angry their parents are. Owen then leaves without providing any further information.
A soon hears the story that is going around the school. According to the gossip, Owen and a student named Josh Wolf had gotten into a fight over drugs, culminating in Josh accusing Owen of dealing. Both Josh and Owen went to the principal’s office, but Owen decided to run. This is the story Leslie and Owen’s parents have heard. When A get's home from school, Leslie's parents demand to know where Owen is. During this confrontation, A learns that Leslie always takes Owen’s side, protecting him in arguments with their parents. A decides to do the same, refusing to volunteer any information.
Owen calls Leslie’s phone and asks A to meet at the park. A agrees and sneaks out the back door. At the park, Owen tells A that Josh Wolf is the true drug dealer, not Owen. According to Owen, the fight occurred because Josh claimed that Owen owed him money. When the school authorities found drugs in Josh’s jacket, he lied and said Owen had sold them. A isn’t entirely sure that Owen’s story is true, but A convinces Owen to come home, anyway.
As soon as A and Owen arrive back at the house, Leslie’s father hits Owen. No one except A is surprised. When Leslie’s father questions Owen about his involvement with drugs, Owen comes up with a cover story, explaining that the fight was actually over a girl named Natasha Lee. Leslie's parents accept this story readily, relieved that there is an alternate explanation. They tell Owen to clean his room, and he gets no further punishment.
When A is alone with Owen again, A praises the brilliance of the cover story. With the crises averted, Owen reverts to his previous dismissive attitude and brushes A off, as he would typically brush off Leslie. Although A can tell that Leslie would normally let Owen’s rudeness go, A feels compelled to fight back. The rules A has always adhered to dictate that A should act exactly as Leslie would, but A’s transformative afternoon with Rhiannon has caused a change in perspective. A imagines that Rhiannon would want A to call Owen out. With this newfound boldness, A tells Owen that he should treat his sister better, especially since she is the only one who is on Owen's side. Owen is surprised at this demand, but he agrees.
Before going to sleep, A logs into the email account to retrieve Justin's email and password. A then checks Justin’s email and sees a message from Rhiannon. In her email, Rhiannon expresses confusion about the difference in Justin’s behavior, asking if she has done anything wrong. The email confirms A’s fears that Justin would revert to his negative treatment of Rhiannon. A desperately wants to reply and reassure Rhiannon, but A also knows this is impossible. A feels a heavy guilt over hurting Rhiannon, wishing again that it was possible to return to Justin's body in order to be with her.
Analysis
The opening pages of Every Day establish David Levithan's inventive concept for the novel and explain the conditions of A's existence. When Levithan began to write Every Day, he set out to explore what it would be like to exist without the typical defining characteristics of race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation, as well as what it would be like to grow up without a fixed connection to family or friends. This led to the conception of A, a disembodied spirit without the traits humans usually define themselves by. Secondarily, Levithan hoped to explore what it would be like for a normal person to love someone like A—someone whose appearance and circumstances are in constant flux.
A self-identifies as a "drifter," someone with no fixed location or emotional ties. Although this existence can be "lonely," A also claims it is "remarkably freeing" (7). A does not answer to the "pressure of peers" or "the burden of parental expectation," and A lives outside the stresses of the past and future. Instead, A claims to be able to live unencumbered in the present, and to "observe, far better than most people observe" (7). With this description, Levithan establishes the complicated nature of A's predicament. Being forced to wake up in a new body every day would be an extremely difficult challenge for most people, but A's unique situation also allows for surprisingly positive character traits. Throughout Every Day, Levithan is sure to include the positive aspects of A's unconventional existence, suggesting that separation from the conventions of normal human life can be liberating.
The first chapter of the novel introduces the central romance between A and Rhiannon. Levithan uses figurative language to capture the whimsical energy of the day, which takes on the serendipitous, light-hearted quality of a rom-com. With phrases like "the ocean makes its music" and "the wind does its dance," Levithan creates a sense of optimism and beauty that aligns with A's developing feelings for Rhiannon (15). A's unexpected connection with Rhiannon feels like destiny, and A decides to run with "the music of the moment" (11). Levithan's optimistic, flowery descriptions of A's first day with Rhiannon establish the idealized image of what their relationship could look like, before the unique conditions of A's existence start to present formidable obstacles. This sets the stage for Levithan's exploration of what it would be like "to be in love with someone who changed every day," a question Levithan set out to answer through writing Every Day.
Levithan also establishes his unique use of the term "enormity" in this chapter, a term he will return to throughout the novel. As A begins to develop feelings for Rhiannon, A reflects on the moment one falls in love, asking how "such a small measure of time can create such enormity" (22). The noun "enormity" usually refers to the state of being huge or enormous, or to an outrageous or momentous act, but Levithan's novel defines the word in a very different way. In Every Day, "enormity" refers to the overwhelming vastness of love. Levithan asserts that "the moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations—all of them rearranging themselves so that this precise intersection could happen" (22). Throughout the novel, Levithan continues to use the term "enormity" to denote the inexplicable, almost mystical nature of all-encompassing love.
Following the day with Rhiannon at the beach, A's entire perspective begins to shift. This shift is clearly visible in A's decision to stand up to Leslie's brother, Owen. Before meeting Rhiannon, A always adhered to one cardinal rule: leave the host lives exactly as A found them. This rule would typically lead A to act the same way timid, strait-laced Leslie would. Now, however, A imagines that Rhiannon would want A to call out Owen and demand more respect. This scene illustrates the beginning of A's transformation in the novel, shifting away from the comfortable detachment that has defined A's existence into the more complex emotional entanglements that A's relationship with Rhiannon will cause. When A opens up to one person, it begins to unravel A's practiced detachment in all areas, leading to a delicate balancing act between A's personal desires and A's responsibilities to the hosts.
