Customer Reviews

Love Is One of the Choices

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm sorry to see that this book is out of print, as it was one of my favorites many years ago, when I was about 10 years old (possibly younger). I was considered an intelligent, precocious child, so it was exciting for me to read about "older girls" who seemed smart and strong-minded, and were facing adult challenges. I certainly didn't find it to have a corrupting influence in any way; I was inspired by the heroines, especially Maggie, whose wit leapt off the page. I recall trying to read other books by Norma Klein, but this was the only one that I thought was really well-done.

I read this book about 7 years ago and even though I am older I still pick it up every now and then and read it. Seven years ago when I read this book I remeber feeling like these girls were my friends. This book does not contribute to moral decay it just had facts of life. Great book!

I disagree with the person who said this book causes moral decay. They are obviously ultra-religious and need to put their Bible away.

Love is One of the Choices is a pretty good book. Maggie and Todd's romance is very realistic, while Justin and Caroline's moves too quickly and is too much like a fairy tale. I didn't like how quickly she gave her virginity to him and how quickly they got married.

But overall, this is a story about two girls becoming women, and not just sexually. Caroline's insecurities and Maggie's facade is very realistic, and I do wish Ms. Klein would write a book about their lives 10 years from then. I think it would be interesting to see what happens.

This is the story of two high school girls, one a feminist and one a romantic.
The romantic falls in love with her chemistry teacher and marries him after
his wife commits suicide. She later becomes pregnant. The feminist has an
affair with a fellow student and ends up having an abortion.

The book is easy reading but not very deep.

I really enjoyed this book as a young women. My copy has been taped and passed around so it is pretty worn. I am saving it in hopes to give it to my girl on her 13th b-day. It explains the difference in the 2 best friends. One is a tomboy not wanting love from anyone and the other one is in desperate need of affection from a male. The book flows very easy and easy to follow even if she is telling 2 stories at one time. A must read!!! Excellent Story!!!!!

I think it is a good book for teenagers and young adults.

I remember reading this book when I was a teenager as well and thinking that I could understand what the girls in the story were going through. Just because the choices they make are not the correct choices does not mean that they shouldn't be written about in a way that is real and heartfelt. Ms. Klein's books have been a great comfort to me while I was maturing and I find myself still picking up the volumes I have. I didn't learn how to behave from these books, I learned that from my parents. This book just gave me another view on choices teens could make. The relationships were real and warm, and also provided perhaps my first view at what an unhealthy relationship could be. I recommend it still.

Love is One of the Choices is probaly one of the most intersting ways I've read to deal with love. I didn't entirely enjoy it because I didn't feel that it would actually happen to many girls. I thought that she would have enough sense not to have an affair with her teacher. I didn't like how Justin(the teacher) instantly fell in live with her. It just wasn't practical. After awhile they just started sleeping together. I thought it was not really a good way to express love. The way that Maggie and Todd fell in love, I thought was better because girls can relate to it.

Norma Klein's books are readable and their focus on love and sex relationships give them an appeal for teenage girls, but the author's obvious political bent (ardent feminist) gets in the way of her stories. The characters in this book, as mentioned in other reviews, are so politically molded as to seem to be made of cardboard. One is a staunch feminist, and since she is the brighter, stronger character, the reader is expected to share her opinions. The other is a weak-minded, confused girl who has a tepid affair with an older man she ends up marrying. The author makes a point of ending the book with the reader not knowing whether this girl miscarried her baby or not: the point is supposed to be that it doesn't matter. That approach might work for pro-choice activism, but it doesn't express real people's concerns in a genuine fashion. (Please keep in mind that I am pro-choice; I simply think this kind of politicization of novels makes for poor literature.) The same kind of political assertions permeate the rest of Klein's novels, which I read as an impressionable teenager, then quickly tired of.

I first read this book in eighth grade, when it was making the rounds between all the girls in my classroom with some of Ms.Klein's other books. We all loved it then because of the romance between a teacher and his student - how impossibly romantic! It is now 15 years later, and although this book is a part of my library, it is not a favorite any longer. The character of Maggie is annoyingly too feminist - and Caroline comes off as much too innocent and stupid. Why three stars? Nostalgia, perhaps. Also, Ms. Klein cannot write a sequel as someone in another review requests, she passed away some years ago.