Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
Jenna Vaughn feels like she is living a lie. She goes to a small private school, has a cute boyfriend, and has tons of friends. Yet, she has squished a small part of her old self into a place no one can see—the small nine-year-old fat girl, who used to cry, and love Cameron Quick is gone. She buried that part of herself when her dearest friend Cameron left her for good. That is until Cameron reappears at her high school reminding her of her not only of her old-self, but old pains and hurts they shared in the past.
I totally shouldn’t have liked this book. It gets several checks on the “I don’t like read this type of book” list. Yet, I was hooked in the very first chapter, and couldn’t put the book down. I love how Jena describes the memories of her childhood, because I could relate. I remember the weird friends you had, but never really remember the details of how you can up with psycho schemes. I remember my friend and I tried to use umbrellas to fly away on the wind. It was pretty funny and never worked(those dang umbrellas always broke), and then one day she missed school, and I cried cause I was sad that she wasn’t there to try to fly away on umbrellas at recess. I was a weird kid, huh?
Another thing I loved was Karl the stepfather figure in the story. He is such a good guy, which is totally against the stereotype in these stories. This story is intense, emotional, and has flashbacks to a child abuse scene, which I skipped in large chunks, as it appears in various parts of the book. I really hate reading abuse stories. A lot. I usually stop reading them, because they make me really depressed. Yet, this one really drew me in and touched me, because the author portrays the Jena as a courageous little creature, with a brave and loving heart. The trick is that she has to remember that, while she comes to terms with her past, and figure out what is between her and her good friend Cameron.
Jenna Vaughn feels like she is living a lie. She goes to a small private school, has a cute boyfriend, and has tons of friends. Yet, she has squished a small part of her old self into a place no one can see—the small nine-year-old fat girl, who used to cry, and love Cameron Quick is gone. She buried that part of herself when her dearest friend Cameron left her for good. That is until Cameron reappears at her high school reminding her of her not only of her old-self, but old pains and hurts they shared in the past.
I totally shouldn’t have liked this book. It gets several checks on the “I don’t like read this type of book” list. Yet, I was hooked in the very first chapter, and couldn’t put the book down. I love how Jena describes the memories of her childhood, because I could relate. I remember the weird friends you had, but never really remember the details of how you can up with psycho schemes. I remember my friend and I tried to use umbrellas to fly away on the wind. It was pretty funny and never worked(those dang umbrellas always broke), and then one day she missed school, and I cried cause I was sad that she wasn’t there to try to fly away on umbrellas at recess. I was a weird kid, huh?
Another thing I loved was Karl the stepfather figure in the story. He is such a good guy, which is totally against the stereotype in these stories. This story is intense, emotional, and has flashbacks to a child abuse scene, which I skipped in large chunks, as it appears in various parts of the book. I really hate reading abuse stories. A lot. I usually stop reading them, because they make me really depressed. Yet, this one really drew me in and touched me, because the author portrays the Jena as a courageous little creature, with a brave and loving heart. The trick is that she has to remember that, while she comes to terms with her past, and figure out what is between her and her good friend Cameron.
2 comments:
I liked this book too. Sara Zarr is great! I can't wait to see what she's got for us next.
Looks cute! I'll have to pick it up!:)
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