Every year my reading list has several books that were recommended to me by friends.
“Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares” is the first that also came with the explicit statement that I was one of the characters.
My friend Brooke initially told me the Dash character reminder her of a young version of Caleb, the main male character in my book. But when I told her that I had started reading, she tweeted back with the hashtag #youaredash.
The story by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan has a fun premise: Dash finds a notebook left on a bookstore shelf by a girl named Lily. Inside is a dare. He plays along, and leaves the notebook for her to continue the game. The two teens alternate narrating chapters, revealing to the reader more about themselves and their lives just as they do to each other through the notebook.
This sounds like a tremendously interesting way to meet someone. Though with my luck, she would turn out to be some kind of psychopath who hates Taco Bell, puppies and baseball.
I recommended the book to two other friends, but neither has finished yet so I can’t tell you if they agree with Dash = me. I can say that at a bunch of times during the story, I certainly could see similarities in the way Dash thought about or reacted to something.
The most clear example came late in the book. Dash is reading the latest entry in the notebook and reflecting on Lily’s words. “I wanted to ask her…not to be snarky or sarcastic. Because I really wanted to know if there was a difference…” The context of the quote isn’t that important, but a few weeks ago I used almost this exact phrasing in a conversation.
There’s another scene with Dash & Lily in a secret room at the bookstore. When Dash — self-described as “horribly bookish” — sees a complete set of the Oxford English Dictionary, Lily says he “swooned, with the palpable bliss of Homer Simpson exalting, ‘Mmmm…donuts.'” I’m not pining away for an OED like Dash, but the sentiment is right.
At one point, Lily’s latest clues lead Dash to the mittens section at Macy’s. In probably my favorite thought of his in the entire book, he notes that mittens are an evolutionary step backward: “Why, I wondered, would we want to make ourselves into a less agile version of a lobster?”
But really this story is about relationships, and both Dash & Lily have a lot to offer on that front. Lily tells Dash that what she wants for Christmas is to know there’s someone out there for her, and to find that kind of meaning in her life. He responds: “You want meaning? Well, the meanings are out there. We’re just so damn good at reading them wrong.”
I responded by nodding.
He continues the analogy, talking about how we learn to speak with first sounding out the letters c-a-t, then saying cat, then understanding that the word is connected to an actual animal. “A lot of times in life we’re just sounding things out.”
Dash’s ex-girlfriend tries to temper his expectations for love, cautioning him to not expect a perfect girl to walk into his life. “No one is ever who you want them to be. And the less you really know them, the more likely you are to confuse them with the girl or boy in your head.” Dash lets the idea of Lily build up before he actually meets her, and is extremely disappointed when she happens to be uncharacteristically drunk at that moment. “What a wasted girl. What a wasted hope.”
Nodding again.
Lily has her own insights. When she thinks she’s screwed up with Dash, she writes: “I feel like you may be a special and kind person. And I would like to make it my business to get to know special and kind people.”
I couldn’t agree more. She also has to go see a film version of “Gramma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” as part of a Dash dare, and wonders why there’s so much blame thrown at the reindeer for the incident. “Because we all know that if that happened in the real world and not in the movies, then the Wildlife Service would go hunting for that reindeer and do away with the poor antlered guy when it was probably Gramma’s fault for getting in his way like that!”
Even her initial placement of the notebook next to a copy of “Franny and Zooey” is noteworthy, even if the scheme was initially the idea of her brother Langston (who wanted her to have something to do while he hung out with his boyfriend). Langston says, “If there’s a perfect guy for you anywhere, he’ll be found hunting for old Salinger editions.”
When I was first writing my own story, I chose “Zooey” for the main female character. I named her after Zooey Deschanel, who herself is named after the Salinger character. I thought that was a funny string, though I have since changed my character to be Sophie instead.
Dash wants to focus on that personal side of life, and not so much what happens day-to-day. “I was attempting to write the story of my life,” he says. “It wasn’t so much about plot. It was much more about character.”
I think that’s a good outlook. So am I Dash? In some ways absolutely, and others not at all. He describes himself as “persnickety” noting that “delightful and persnickety are not a common blend.” His best friend’s mom calls him “finicky.” I’ll let you know how the other reader-friends think Dash and I line up.