The Realm of Possibility

The Realm of Possibility
David Levithan

From the very beginning, The Realm of Possibility is not your ordinary book. It’s shrink-wrapped in clingy plastic and set on one of the bookstore’s shelves, and you pick it up, scan through the back cover, and buy it.

The Realm of Possibility cover

You’re waiting a tale of teenage love and intertwined lives to be spun in beautiful lines like those you copied onto your planner because you didn’t want to forget (maybe for this book, you’ll write, this will linger). Because that’s what the back cover tells you.

You pinch off a hardened corner of the plastic wrapper, slide your finger along the sealed line, and proceed to peel off the rest. You’ve seen the two hands and the crowned heart on the cover before, but this time you take a second glance. Then you leaf through the first few pages until you make it to a gray page that has the heading “one,” followed by a list of four names.

Then you find that the book has been written in free verse, and you think, really, should you have paid all that money for a book with pages almost bare save for a few three-word liners?

But soon enough, you realize, yes, it was worth it.

You read through some stories, excited to figure out how each one connects to the first, so you cheat a little and look through the four other chapter dividers and you’re surprised to find your own name on one. But you don’t want to spoil it for yourself, so you quickly return to where you stopped.

Levithan isn’t telling the story this time. He lets the twenty teenagers write for themselves, each one with their own distinct style, and distinct mind.

Whereas other stories are limited by their one or two main characters, this one has twenty, a completely heterogeneous group in terms of sexuality, beliefs, culture, and experiences. Through these twenty, we see a full spectrum.

Leviathan understands, and lets us understand, there will always be different people with different interests. Here, in this realm of possibility, some of them intersect.

The Claddagh ring says, “With my two hands I give you my heart, and crown it with my love.”