This Book Has a Unique Musical Component

David Levithan has a deep backlist of books (most of which I’ve read) and is especially known for his epic authorial collaborations. He’s cowritten YA novels with many different authors, including John Green, Jennifer Niven, Nina LaCour, and Rachel Cohn (to name a few). His latest collaboration is a novel about adults for a change. And this time, he paired up with musician Jens Lekman, instead of another writer, to create this quirky, yet beautiful story. But the book is also more than just a book. At the risk of sounding trite, it’s also an experience.

The main character of the book, J, and Jens Lekman have a few key things in common. They are both Swedish pop singers. They both wrote songs called, “If You Ever Need a Stranger (to Sing at Your Wedding).” And they both sing at the weddings of fans and friends — in fact, Lekman dedicated the book to the 132 couples who had him perform at their weddings. However, the similarities between J and Jens end here. In a New York Times interview, Levithan said he didn’t even know anything about Lekman’s personal life when he was crafting the narrative of the book.

With past cowriters Levithan traded off writing chapters, but this time, Lekman wrote the songs to correspond to each chapter and put them together in a concept album called “Songs for Other People’s Weddings,” which you can also access via QR code at the beginning of the book.

All access members continue below for more on this unique book experience.