Sweethearts by Sara Zarr is the story of a girl, Jennifer "Jenna" Harris, who once had a friend named Cameron Quick. They were both outcasts in elementary school-- Jennifer the fat girl, Cameron the weird boy. Then, suddenly Cameron moves away-- and Jennifer hears that he has died. Years later, Jennifer has become Jenna, a thin, popular, well-adjusted teen. She has never forgotten Cameron Quick, though, and imagine her suprise when he shows up out of the blue one day. Together, they must confront their past and their present-- and find some way to settle the "unfinished business" (as Jenna's mother calls it) between them.As delectable as the cover looks, Sweethearts didn't quite satisfy me. There wasn't enough substance-- not much really happened. Scenes from Jenna's present life were interspersed with scenes from her past, including a particularly trumatic one that the book centers around. But, I mean... I feel callous saying this, but it just didn't seem trumatic enough. When you finally find out what happened to Jenna, it's sort of... anticlimactic. I told a librarian friend of mine this, and she said, "Yes, but that's how life is." She has a point-- life isn't always climactic. But life isn't always interesting, either.
Sweethearts is a very psycological book (there really isn't much in the way of plot). I like some books like this (Speak, for instance), but it can drag on after a while. Sweehearts didn't drag too much, but it didn't grab me and pull me in, either. It's very well-written, and makes me want to read Zarr's first book, Story of a Girl (which was nominated for the National Book Award). But Sweethearts just... wasn't my cup of tea. Or plate of cookies. Or something.
I give Sweethearts three out of five daggers.
Eating heart-shaped cookies, vaguely disappointed, and yours,
8 comments:
interesting....
isn't Cameron, like, a girl's name?
i would assume a Cameron is a girl, personally.
kinda strange, because not one but two guy friends of mine from elementry school moved away and were never heard from again.
one went to sheep rehab in vermont, and the other moved to some other town in jersey.
mmmm.... plate of cookies... and how appropriate too (with Valentine's Day and all). I have know girls and guys named cameron. Like Jordan. I know at least 3 guys and 3 girls named Jordan. What's up with that?
this book looks like something i wouldnt read!
I'm surprised you didn't like this book very much. I absolutely adored it!
i have no idea why you didnt like this book ! it kept me up reading and i enjoyed it very much . at the end i was upset that cameron left and i was left thinking if he would ever reunite with the girl, jennifer. i enjoyed it very much !
i totally loved this book . it was interesting and it kept me up thinking about it . although i was highly disappointed by tthe ending . . .
i loved this book it was amazing!! i could not put it down at all! :) i really did ot like the ending though... :(
i'll put it on my list to read(although seeing as this is about a hundred books long, it could be a while before i read it.) read story of of a girl, if you haven't already. its an interesting look at the way one (stupid) event can shape your whole life.
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