Scrambled Eggs at Midnight [Mass Market Paperback]

Brad Barkley (Author), Heather Hepler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2007

Calliope (or Cal as she calls herself) wants nothing more than to stay put; to stop traveling cross-country with her mother, sleeping in a tent, and abandoning all belongings whenever they pull up stakes. Meanwhile, eliot misses the happy times he left behind when his father decided to open a camp for kids looking to lose weight and find Jesus. when Cal and eliot meet by chance, they feel an immediate connection. together they must face their isolation, the threat of yet another move, and the deepening of eliot’s father’s obsession. in their case, love just might be everything it’s cracked up to be.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up Calliope once lived happily with her artist parents. Then her mother decided to find herself, and now she and her daughter pack up and go at a moment's notice, following Renaissance Faires around the country. Eliot once lived with his normal family on the Carolina coast where they were all very happy. Then his father found God and dragged them to the woods to start a Fat Camp based on the motto, What Would Jesus Eat? In alternating chapters, readers follow Cal and Eliot as they struggle with growing up, finding themselves, and finding one another. While each narrator has a clear and unique voice, the two work together in perfect harmony. Supporting characters all adults are well developed and distinctive. Reluctant teen readers may be drawn to this title by the bubble-gum-cutesy cover, but they will be hooked by the strong, quirky story of love and family. Morgan Johnson-Doyle, Sierra High School, Colorado Springs, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. "My mother is a wench. It says so right on her W-2." Fifteen-year-old Calliope (Cal) is tired of sleeping in tents and following her free-spirited mother, who works at Renaissance fairs, selling handmade jewelry and serving drinks. She yearns for four walls, her father back in Texas, and a deeper sense of place, connection, and love. Then, while spending the summer in Asheville, North Carolina, Cal meets Elliot, also 15, whose father runs a Christian camp for overweight kids. Like David Levithan and Rachel Cohn's Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2006), this coauthored love story unfolds in alternating chapters narrated in Cal and Elliot's hilarious, heart-tugging voices. Although the adult characters veer toward caricature, and the story's closing events feel a bit hasty and undeveloped, the authors raise a potentially routine summer romance into a refreshing, poetic, memorable story filled with the precise small details that nudge people toward love--from the sound of a necklace to the taste of homemade barbeque sauce. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Speak (May 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142408670
• ISBN-13: 978-0142408674
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular, May 20, 2006

By 

Mary Streck (Lucas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scrambled Eggs at Midnight (Hardcover)

What a great piece of literature. This book speaks to all ages, but was written especially for young adults (teen). It is a fast moving delightful story of two young people who fall in love during their summer together. The story of Caliope and Eliot, told in the first person, and moves with touching power as each of the main characters speak in individual chapters. Light, yet so moving...bringing one to tears as it is read.

Good literary quality, as well as a great read. Thank you for bringing our young people good literature and a delightful storyline.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars finally, another favorite, September 7, 2007

By 

Samantha Sanders (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scrambled Eggs at Midnight (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading a good book I have this fear of reading another, knowing it won't be able to top the one before. I finished Harry Potter 7 and this happened, then I read Eclipse and there was good month pause before I was able to find a book that I could really get into and feel good about. Scrambled Eggs at Midnight was this book.

I loved the witty narrative through out the book and I found it hard to not laugh out loud during class. I could easily relate to both characters (my dad leaving me and my mom being extremely religious but rather hypocritical about it.)

Through out the book I was trying to find some sort of fault and although I did find some (see below) they weren't the typical: this book is so predicatable. Although you know from the reviews on the back cover that it is going to be a happy ending, you aren't exactly sure how that is going to be. It was the first teen romance book that I've read in a long time that wasn't extremely predictable. It was definately a nice change.

Also, although it does follow the typical Romeo and Juliet plot format it was still original, the family dynamics and setting and side plots were something new to me. I loved how the authors kept the side plots going (Eliot's parent's problems) but didn't let it over power the main plot. Generally when I see a side plot the author brings it too much into the story, but that isn't really how the case is when you are so consumed in love like Eliot and Cal. (Or at least I assume.)

My only gripe about the book is that the characters seemed really young (15) and even though they were young they talked even younger at some points. I don't think any 15 year old would call someone 'goober.' But maybe that's just me. Also, some of the references to having a sexual relationship seemed off for 15 year olds a month into a relationship

I recommend this book to anyone who likes the plot, not just young teens. I'm a freshman in college and I still found this book wonderfully written.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite one this summer, September 6, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Scrambled Eggs at Midnight (Hardcover)

I got this book for my birthday, because people always give me books, and this was my favorite of all the ones I read this summer. I told my teacher about it hoping we can read it for class. It is really funny and you really like all of the chracters. Cal and Eliot are both funny and they seem like real people by the time you finish the book.