Love and Other Perishable Items
by
Laura Buzo
"Smart, honest and full
of achingly real characters. And it made me laugh. What else would you
want in a book?" —Melina Marchetta, Printz Award-winning author
From the moment Amelia sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, 15, is 15.
Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?
Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up.
From the moment Amelia sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, 15, is 15.
Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?
Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up.
(summary from goodreads.com)
__________________________________________________
Hmm. A cute coming of age story. Pros - great characters. Very real, flawed, multi dimensional. Relatable problems and such. Having both sides of the story was enjoyable and helped the book immensely. Great "villains" and such. I liked the end much better than I expected, during the course of the book I really didn't see any happy ending coming.
Cons - too much drugs and sex for a YA book. You can't follow the exploits of a 21 year old college boy and still sell it as a YA book, even IF there is also a 15 year old girl.
I'd be interested to see if Buzo has written anything else, and ever answers the question of what happens to Chris/Amelia several years down the road …
Mom note: As
a mother of readers, I also
want to make a note to myself (and others if they care)
why I would or
would not have my children read this book, because honestly, sometimes I
forget. This is a YA book, so everything is within YA strictures.
Violence: no; Profanity: yes; Sex: YES
No comments:
Post a Comment