Cohn, Rachel and David Levithan. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. 2008. 208p. ISBN 9781615579891. Available both as a book at FIC COH and as an eBook on Overdrive.
Nick had not gotten over being dumped by Trish, and he’s still in love with her. A bass player for a punk band, Nick is at the club one night and, following their performance, he heads to the bar. He notices Trish come in with her new boyfriend, and he decides that he doesn’t want her to see him alone. He bends down towards the girl next to him. She’s wearing a flannel shirt, in contrast to everyone else in the club, and he asks her if she can pretend to be his girlfriend for the next five minutes. Much to his surprise, she leans up and kisses him while Trish passes by.
Norah and Trish know each other and attended the same school for years. Norah’s never been a fan of Trish, and she feels like she’s known Nick for a long time. As the five minutes begin to stretch, they get to know each other and fumble along. They leave together to go see another show, and their attraction for each other only grows.
Both of them are conflicted. Nick is not over Trish yet, and keeps thinking of her. Norah is also getting over a bad breakup, and has issues of her own she deals with. Told from each perspective in alternating chapters, this first date grows into a relationship until the first rays of the sun signify a new day, and a new beginning for both of them.
Embedded in the text are multiple references to songs and artists that have graced the punk scene in the last 25 years. Romantic and relationship driven, this one night date demonstrates that two persons can grow and learn from each other and end up closer than when they started.
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