Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Published: October 26, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
It all started with just one thing… a red notebook in a bookstore called The Strand. A stranger finds a red notebook in a bookstore and opens it. Within its pages lies a dare:
“I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t put the book back on the shelf, please.”
Lily has left a notebook at her favorite bookstore full of challenges for the right guy to come and do them. Is Dash the right guy? Or are they just playing a game of cat and chase, sending the other to another mysterious location with a clue. Can their in person encounter be anything like the characters on the written page? Let us find out.
Personal Thoughts:
I found this book to be written uniquely. The various clues that were left for either Dash or Lily and the clever way that each found their respective clues made me admire them. I don’t think I would have done as well as them had I been put in their shoes. Although, who knows how well or how poorly I would do unless I did it myself?
I loved how Dash was all moody and mysterious and full of hate for Christmas, while Lily was the exact opposite. She made him go and sit on Santa’s lap! A 16 year old boy on Santa’s lap! I was laughing when I read that part. 🙂 This book was a great scavenger hunt at a time and place where it’s easy to get lost. I’ve been to New York around Christmas time and I know exactly how crowded and chaotic it can get around Christmas time.
Lily and Dash are a pair of characters. One thing that the authors did that I really liked was how they made the secondary characters be as active as the protagonists. In doing that, it felt like I knew each and every one of them by the end of the book. Some more, and some less.
Booky Thoughts and Me 