Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) [Hardcover]

Carrie Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2008

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NEED AND CAPTIVATE

People keep changing who they are & defining themselves by their own choices, and that's cool most of the time, but not all the time. No, it's not cool all the time at all.

Belle is closing in on her last few months of high school and things are much better than they were before. Well, almost. Belle's not too sure about all the sureness that other people seem to have about things like labels (popular, slut, jock), change (college, real adulthood, new friends, lost friends), and love (oh yeah, that). Not to mention, there's THE BIG PROBLEM with Tom and other-well,  unexpected-surprises.

If you want to read more about Belle, check out Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend from Flux.

Praise for Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend

"From the first sentence of Carrie Jones' novel, I could tell that here was a bright new writer who was going to set the world of young adult letters aflame." -Kathi Appelt, award-winning poet and author

"Provocative...The author's poetic prose ably captures her heroine's emotional upheavals." -Publishers Weekly

"Jones offers an atypical perspective of the coming-out story by legitimizing the love that is not lost, but changed, when young people grow up and apart." -School Library Journal

 

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—In this sequel to Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend (Flux, 2007), Belle is dealing with new issues in her life. As she finishes her final year of high school, she must come to terms with her dashed hopes of a future with Dylan. She must also deal with the many changes that seem to be taking place in the people around her, including her mother, who is seriously involved in a new romance. The main focus, though, is Belle's relationship with her new boyfriend, Tom, who at first seems reluctant to have sex with her, and a crisis situation with her friend Em and Em's boyfriend. Throughout the story, Belle copes in her own quirky way by playing folk music on her guitar and making lists, and the book concludes with one final list, "Things I Am Right Now." This is a thoughtful and often humorous read, and while there are almost too many different issues going on here (teen pregnancy, physical abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, gay bashing, life-threatening allergic reactions), Jones manages to make it all work. Her descriptions of life in a small town where everyone knows your business are spot-on, as are her depictions of high school. An occasional character is over-the-top, but Belle herself is a likable, believable character whose emotional crises will resonate with teens.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"The story is honest, earthy, and appealing." -- KLIATT

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Flux (March 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738712574
• ISBN-13: 978-0738712574
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carrie Jones graduated from Vermont College's MFA program for writing. She has edited newspapers and poetry journals and has recently won awards from the Maine Press Association and also been awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship as well as a Maine Literary Award.

Her first book, TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (EX) BOYFRIEND appeared May 2007. Her second novel tentatively titled,LOVE (AND OTHER USES FOR DUCT TAPE) came out March 2008. Another book, GIRL, HERO was released after August 2008. TIPS won the Maine Literary Award and the Independent Booksellers Award.

NEED, an urban fantasy/romance appeared December 2008 and has been named a VOYA Best Books of 2008 and is a finalist for a bunch of other awards.

That's boring though, isn't it? Here, let's try it this way.

Carrie Jones likes Skinny Cow fudgsicles and potatoes. She does not know how to spell fudgsicles. This has not prevented her from writing books. She lives with her cute family in Maine, but she grew up in Bedford, NH where she once had a seance with cool uber-comedian Sarah Silverman.

The Meyers brothers are from Bedford, too, so you'd think it would make Carrie funnier, coming from Bedford N.H. Obviously, something didn't work.

Carrie has a large, skinny white dog and a fat cat. Both like fudgicles. Only the cat likes potatoes. This may be a reason for the kitty's weight problem (Shh??? don't tell). Carrie has always liked cowboy hats but has never owned one. This is a very wrong thing. She graduated from Vermont College's MFA program for writing. She has edited newspapers and poetry journals and has recently won awards from the Maine Press Association and also been awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship as well as a Maine Literary Award.

Still boring? Still with me? How about this....

2. Carrie can not drink coffee. It makes her insane. Do not give her caffeine.
3. Carrie is very responsive to loving strokes on the hair, kind of like a puppy. However, do not do this without asking first unless you are a ridiculously handsome man or an editor who is about to offer her a trillion dollars for the first draft of her novel.
4. Carrie is secretly really, really shy even though she's pathetically outgoing in person. She has a very hard time calling people. So, if you want to talk to her, make the first move. And, if you're her in-Maine female best friend, Jennifer, do NOT get mad at her because she is so bad at returning emails.
5. Carrie sometimes wears mismatched socks, if you do not think this is cool, do not tell her. You will hurt her feelings.
6. Carrie really, really wants you to like her books. Please like her books. PLEEEAASSSEEEE. She'll be your best friend forever. That is, if you want a friend who is shy about calling and emailing and who wears mismatched socks and can't drink caffeine and likes being pet on the head. Hhmmm???.
7. Carrie is not above begging.
8. Carrie, like Belle in TIPS drinks Postum. It's for the same reason, too.
9. Carrie loves Great Pyrenees dogs. They are huge and white, and furry and it looks like they have white eyeliner and mascara on, which is way too cute. Do you have one? Send a picture!
10. Carrie lives in Maine. She has a hard time with this in the winter. It is bleak in Maine in the winter. Imagine everything shades of gray and brown and no green anywhere except for in people's noses. This is Maine in Winter. Maine in summer is the best place in the world, so it's a trade-off. Feel free to invite Carrie to your house in the winter, but not if it's in Greenland, Canada, or anywhere north of Florida.
11. Forget that. She'd still probably come.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, May 7, 2008

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) (Hardcover)

Since her then-boyfriend announced he was gay several months back, things have finally started to settle down in Belle's life. Her relationship with Tom is going strong, her best friend Em's all lovey-dovey with her boyfriend, and even Belle's mom has found a man she adores. The classmate who attacked Belle last year has been transferred to another school, and the freedom of summer is fast approaching. Still, Belle can't help worrying that life can't possibly be as good as it seems. Tom hasn't made the move to go all the way yet, and she can't stop fretting that there's something wrong that she isn't seeing.

Unfortunately for Belle, it turns out she's right--but it's not something with Tom. First, to Belle's dismay, her seizures start happening with no apparent trigger. Then Em makes a life-changing discovery and swears Belle to secrecy. Belle sees her dreams of an easy transition to university with friends and boyfriends falling apart. As she struggles to figure out what's true, and to deal with her growing uncertainty, she is forced to question the things everyone takes for granted. Why do difficult things happen to people she's sure are "good?" Is the boy who attacked her really all bad, or is it okay for her to feel sympathy for him when she hears his father hitting him? What's the real story behind the snarky remarks and angry accusations of her long-time nemesis, Mimi? And most importantly, can Belle be "popular," loving, and "good," and stay true to herself all at the same time?

LOVE (AND OTHER USES FOR DUCT TAPE) has the same charm and emotionally wrenching honesty as its prequel, TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (EX) BOYFRIEND. Belle is an engaging narrator, struggling to do the right thing even when she knows not everyone agrees on what that "right" thing is. Her reactions to the changing circumstances around her are believable, and readers will eagerly follow her every step of the way. The other characters, both teens and adults, are equally well-drawn, in many shades of gray, never black and white. The book raises many hot topic issues, from teen sex and pregnancy to gay rights, but it keeps them personal and real, without any preaching or judgments. Ultimately, this is a story about Belle defining who she is and who she wants to be. It's a journey every teen must take, and this novel should be equally universal in its appeal.

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by: Lynn Crow

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful angst and stream of consciousness, April 20, 2008

By 

John Rogers ClarkIV "Seawizard" (Hartland, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) (Hardcover)

I finished the book about half an hour ago, having intended on reading it along with Carrie's first one in sequence. Having mislaid book one, I enjoyed the first decent weekend in Maine, sitting in the sun and losing myself in this book. It has numerous things going for it; humor, sadness, fully-fleshed characters, particularly the unlikable ones (the author does a fine job making their less than nice words and behavior make sense), explanations in stream-of-consciousness that hold water in terms of why everyone acts as they do and last, but not least, a terrific story. I expected Belle's constant return to thoughts about sex might wear thin, but they never did, nor did her preoccupation with who she really was. This is a book that will get plenty of circulation in my small public library.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous sequel!, March 25, 2008

By 

Tamra Wight - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) (Hardcover)

Senioritis . . . deep girl friend relationships . . . the mystery of boyfriends . . . humor . . . poignancy . . . secrets . . .

duct tape.

This fabulous sequel to Tips on Having a Gay Ex Boyfriend has it all!

Em and Belle are the best of friends who'd do anything for each other. So when Em confesses a huge secret, Belle is right there for her as always. Belle promises not to tell; not her love-bitten mother, not her new hot boyfriend, not Em's fun-loving boyfriend, not their classmates and not her gay ex-boyfriend. The longer the secret goes on, the more it weighs both girls down.

Carrie vividly captures the highs and lows of teenage life. Belle and Emily were so real to me, their actions and reactions so true, I fell into this book completely and was sad to see it end.