Why We Broke Up [Hardcover]

Daniel Handler (Author), Maira Kalman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2011

I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.

Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2012: Min, precocious and equally obsessed with classic cinema and good coffee, broke up with Ed, a popular math-loving jock who secretly carries a protractor. Daniel Handler weaves this heartrending story of first love and other powerful firsts as Min reveals, item by item, what's in the box she's leaving on Ed's doorstep. As readers learn why these two unforgettable characters broke up, the significance of these simple love tokens, beautifully illustrated by Maira Kalman, charmingly unfolds. Written with an emotional depth that allows both adult and teen readers to revisit memories of heartbreak and find pieces of themselves in Min--and maybe even Ed, Why We Broke Up will leave you wondering how Handler knows exactly what it's like to be a teenage girl in love. --JoVon Sotak

Review

* "Characters are vivid, and their portrayal is enriched by realistic dialogue....Hander offers a heartbreaking, bittersweet, and compelling romance with a unique angle and flare." (School Library Journal, starred review )

* "A bittersweet diatribe of their break-up arranged around objects....all the more powerful because of how they evoke truth more than any mere relaying of facts." (Booklist, starred review )

* "As objects from the box are revealed in Kalman's vividly rendered paintings, readers are taken beneath the surface of what will no doubt be one of the most talked-about romances in teen literature....A poignant, exhilarating tale of a love affair gone to the dogs." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review )

* "Handler shows exceptional skill at getting inside Min's head and heart...lending real pathos to Min's memorabilia and making her sorrow all the more palpable." (Publishers Weekly, starred review )

* "Handler is at his best when he's creating verbal collages of ordinary, recognizable high-school moments....Like the perfect breakup song, this turns the searing experience of losing your heart into a cathartic work of art." (The Bulletin, starred review )

* "Kalman's spare illustrations of the objects heighten the overall enjoyment and perfectly complement Handler's accomplished prose." (The Horn Book, starred review )

"It's easy to predict how Handler's story will conclude from the book's few pages. It's more difficult to take such an everyday tragedy with a predictable ending and elevate it to an end point of enduring, emotionally effective art." (Los Angeles Times )

"The Lemony Snicket author (writing under his own name) convincingly inhabits the mind of Min, a teenage girl reeling from her first heartbreak. This poignant, bittersweet novel centers on a box of objects infused with memories of her brief, unforgettable love." (Entertainment Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (December 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316127256
• ISBN-13: 978-0316127257
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 53 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative story of young love November 11, 2011

By K. Polzin

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I'm a fan of Lemony Snicket and his A Series of Unfortunate Events books, and I'm a fan of Maira Kalman's work. I had never read any of the books for adults by Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket). The blurb on "Why We Broke Up" says it is for "Ages 15 and up," but it was an excellent adult read.

The story is told in the form of a letter Min writes to break up with her boyfriend Ed. In addition to Min and Ed, Min's friends Al and Lauren, and Ed's sister Joan were all vividly drawn, primarily using dialogue. I enjoyed their witty banter as well as their more serious talks. Handler perfectly captured the feelings that go with being a teenager, and with being a teenager in love. Maira Kalman's illustrations perfectly match the tone of the book.

One of the book's many strengths is the handling of the character Ed. Handler makes Ed likable, and the reader roots for Ed and Min's relationship, even though Min's break-up letter makes it clear there is something to be angry with Ed about.

I don't know how 15-year old readers would view this book, but I suspect it would be a good book for an "arty" teenager.

43 of 54 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't really get Min's character- not a typical high school student December 13, 2011

By M. Fuller

Format:Hardcover

Why We Broke Up- by Daniel Handler is a story about love, and then breaking up. Min writes a long letter to Ed to accompany a box filled with trinkets she has collected from their relationship. I loved the premise of this story, and I even liked the characters, Min and Ed, who are from completely different worlds- Film fanatic Min who is into gourmet cooking, old movies, and coffee- and Ed, the co-captain of the basketball team, and is wildly popular.

I really liked how they fell in love with each other almost because of their differences. Each one stretching the other past their usual boundaries (from watching classic films, or goofball movies to romping around in the park early on a Saturday morning) their love was strained because of their different groups of friends and natural tastes. I resonated with how quickly they fell in love, and what they were willing to sacrifice to try and make it work.

What I didn't like about this book was Min's voice. She would ramble for page-long paragraphs about old films and half the time, I had a really hard time tracking what she was saying, or caring about that side-note. She wasn't a believable high schooler- she seemed like a 30-something single. I will be surprised if many high school students pick-up and finish this book, though it does raise some great points about self-esteem, cliques, sex, and friends. I just couldn't get past the long rambles from Min to really bond with her though.

75 of 100 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Imagine the most boring John Hughes film never made... December 27, 2011

By Susan Tunis TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"Dear Ed,

In a sec you'll hear a thunk."

So begins Daniel Handler's (AKA Lemony Snicket) latest YA offering, Why We Broke Up. The aforementioned "thunk" is the sound of a heavy box flung by Min Green hitting the porch of her ex-boyfriend, Ed Slaterton. The 350-page novel is comprised of the long, long, long letter that she includes as she returns to him the minutia of their relationship. This relationship is recounted from start to finish in the letter/novel through Min's apparently photographic recall. Scattered throughout the text are Maira Kalman's charming illustrations of the contents of the box, which range from bottle tops to ticket stubs to clothing.

With all the drawings and white space throughout the book, it isn't really a full 350 pages, and yet it felt longer. It was written as an angsty, teen, stream of conscious rant, and it was chock-full of pointless filler, such as detailed descriptions of dozens of fictional films, made by fictional people, starring fictional stars. You see, Min's the substantive one in the relationship. She's "different." Ed's a popular jock, co-captain of the basketball team. They're from different worlds, with different friends! And yet they struggle to make it work.

I've never been an adult that had the slightest problem reading and appreciating YA or children's fiction, but this was just an overly drawn-out, boring, and humorless waste of time. Ultimately, I found it unsatisfying on every level. And that, Daniel, is why WE broke up.

Note to parents: This novel includes frequent obscenities, underage drinking, references to drug use, lack of respect for parents and authority figures, and teen sex.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars I can see why they broke up June 17, 2012

By Ann

Format:Hardcover

Daniel Handler (also known as Lemony Snicket) wrote my childhood favourite read "A Series of Unfortunate Events". So when I found out that Daniel Handler was actually Lemony Snicket, I figured I'd give this book a shot. It was unique in that it was a YA book with illustrations, but it felt like I should be doing a read a long with a teacher holding up the book so all the students could see the illustrations between each page.

The cover features a teacup falling and the moment is captured with the teacup in mid-air, which is a perfect intro because this is the story of a relationship as the readers look back to what brought us to the defining moment when the teacup smashes and the relationship ends.

This whole book unfortunately reads like one giant teen movie cliché. We're first introduced to Min (Minerva) Green who is the embodiment of a member of the outcast artsy (no matter how much she says she isn't artsy, she freaking is, especially with her obsession with "classic" movies) group, independent and a somewhat naive girl. Then we meet her friend Al who is the utterly perfect but unappreciated best male friend. Then there's Ed, who is the classic homophobic jock "player" who might as well get tested for STI's as a hobby.

So artsy girl and jock date, she sacrifices things to be with him, he tries to change to fit in with her, they both alienate themselves from their social groups, everyone tells them it won't work, they try to ignore everyone and declare their love for each other, but instead of a love overcomes all happy ending, we get a flaming pile of heartbroken teen angst that you could see coming a mile away. If you think I ruined the book for you, I really didn't.... Seriously, if you've ever seen a teen movie for example "She's All That", this book reminds me of that movie.

If you haven't guessed already, I didn't enjoy the book. It was predictable, and whenever Ed opened his big jerkish mouth, or Min made a really clingy girlfriend move I would inwardly groan and tell myself "I CAN SEE WHY YOU BROKE UP!!". All the references to fictional old time black and white "classic" films were cute and clever at first, but after a while I just didn't want to go on anymore - this also reinforced my aversion to watching real old "classic" films even more.

I considered not finishing it, so I started skimming, and then my eye would catch on a really really interesting picture and I would want to find out more about it, which led to me reading it. Before I knew it I had read through the whole thing. So I will give credit to Maira Kalman for doing a brilliant job illustrating this book! It was the saving grace!

Each "chapter" if you will, is separated by an illustration of an item and the anecdotal story behind it, which made it easy to start and stop between chapters for a light quick read. I have to admit though, there were some genuinely great moments between Ed and Min, where Ed was this whole different and more sensitive guy and the main reason why they broke up and how it was revealed was pretty epic!

However, if I was Ed (and knowing the type of guy Ed is) and my ex wrote a 300+ page "letter" chronicling the difficulties of our relationship, and then threw a box of junk on my doorstep I'd probably skip reading said letter (it'd end up in the trash or as fire kindling) and then proceed to laugh because I'm a jerk like that. Read more ›