Hard Love (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

John Galardi is a loner, unable to express his feelings except in the pages of his zine, "Bananafish." He finds inspiration in another zine, "Escape Velocity," created by Marisol Guzman, a self-proclaimed "rich spoiled lesbian private-school gifted-and-talented writer virgin." Her sharp observations make John laugh out loud and he decides he must meet this witty author. By planting himself in Tower Records the day she drops off the latest issue, John manages to arrange a coffee date that extends over several Saturday mornings. They discuss everything from John's inability to feel and his parent's divorce to Marisol's problems with her suffocating adoptive parents. When Marisol casually tells John that she likes him, he is flabbergasted: "Honest to God a shiver ran through my body... Nobody ever said that they liked me. Ever. Not even [my friend] Brian, who probably actually doesn't." After a disastrous "just friends" junior prom date and a weekend zine conference spent together, John realizes that his feelings for Marisol are more than platonic. And Marisol, who is exploring her identity as a young lesbian, has no idea how to let John down gently without losing her new best friend.

Like Barbara Wersba's Whistle Me Home, Hard Love tackles the delicate issue of unrequited love between a straight and gay teen. But what sets this novel apart from similarly themed books is Wittlinger's choice to present the story from John's straight male point of view. Funny and poignant first-person narration will engender empathy for John as he attempts to connect with his emotionally distant parents and an understanding of how his need for their affection has manifested itself in romantic feelings for a girl he knows is unavailable to him. Hard Love is a thoughtful and on-target addition to the growing canon of gay and lesbian coming-of-age stories. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

PW said of this novel about the complex friendship between high school friends, "The awkwardness of awakening sexuality, a growing preoccupation with identity and crossing the line from friendship to more are themes here with which teens will readily identify." Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068984154X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689841545
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #274,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A coming-of-age book for the nineties with brains and soul!, June 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hard Love (Hardcover)

Looking for a smart, sensitive portrayal of teenagers growing up in the late nineties? Hard Love is the book for you. Jaded junior high and high school students, young college students and parents alike will be amazed at Wittlinger's perceptive, hard-hitting, complex young adult novel.

As a graduate student, I expected to feel mildly engaged with Hard Love; but to my surprise, I became deeply involved with this work. The first-person narrative of the main character, a high school junior named John, held my attention from the somewhat inauspicious beginning.

John is a young man who doesn't know if he's straight, gay, angry, happy, bored, or abandoned. His mother hasn't touched him at all since his father walked out on them years before, and his father is a wealthy playboy who gives John freedom--freedom to be ignored, freedom to turn into a block of ice.

At first, John infuriated me. I wanted him to talk, to stop whining, to tell his parents what was really going on. He comes across as a loner, a loser of a kid who's intelligent enough but keeps the world at a huge distance.

Luckily, John's world is blown open when he meets Marisol, who produces her own 'zine and calls herself a "Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee lesbian."

I delighted in watching Wittlinger develop John's character from this point on as he discovers worlds of creativity, love, and strength. John's young, raw voice becomes a focal point for the labyrinth of teenage emotional life.

By the conclusion, my emotions were so completely bound up with John's that I cried with both pain and joy at the resolutions--and non-resolutions--of the novel.

The teenagers in Hard Love are complex. Alienated, motivated, creative, needy, dependent, raw, and discovering their place in a human community, they write 'zines, create music, run away from problems, face parental failings, and in general deal with the painful world in various original and authentic ways.

In creating John and Marisol, Wittlinger combines skill, knowledge, and sensitivity. Added bonuses are references to Ani DiFranco and Bob Franke, plus great tips on the world of 'zines and lyrical descriptions of the Boston and Cape Cod areas.

This 26-year-old found Hard Love an emotionally and intellectually satisfying, even fulfilling read. I'd suggest you buy it now!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard Love Hits Hard, April 16, 2000

By	Shari Fesko (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hard Love (Hardcover)

Before I read this book I was told how terrific it was by fellow librarians, that is all fine and good but it seems often when we love a title the audience it was truly meant for does not feel the same. I don't think that will be the case with Wittlinger's stunning coming of age story about a very confused teenager trying to define himself and those around him. John (or Giovanni as he calls himself) both reads and writes Zines (homemade magazines) hoping to find some of the answers he is searching, for he even strikes up a friendship with fellow zine writer Marisol. Through their platonic relationship both are able to discover some painful truths about themselves. On this road to self discovery John unwittingly finds himself falling in love though Marisol has been up front about her homsexuality from the beginning. On top of this John has a completely affectionless relationship with both his parents, since they divorced six years ago and finds his only school friend "Brian" a cheery annoyance. This is a book with three dimensional characters that could be your neighbor your friends or even you. Which is the reason I beleive middle schoolers and high schoolers alike, may just agree with myself and all those other librarians who are raving about this title.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HARD LOVE tells it like it is, February 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hard Love (Hardcover)

There are lots of trite, silly, and thoroughly unimaginative books out there that call themselves "young-adult novels." Their intended audience is supposedly teenagers, but most intelligent teenagers who enjoy reading good books quickly give up on the genre entirely, turned off by the one-dimensional characters and sometimes astoundingly bad writing. People my age (high school/college age) who love to read do NOT usually turn to the young-adult genre for our books.

HARD LOVE is the reason we should rethink our decision. For one thing, the writing is excellent, especially the dialogue. For another, the characters are entirely true to life, and Ellen Wittlinger is able to make you care deeply about what happens to them. (And they are decidedly NOT "teen flick" material, as the review from the Horn Book suggested!) She has also given her characters an interesting and emotionally complex story. But the best thing about this book is that it feels REAL. Everything about this book works, and it is a joy to read and reread. If you enjoy intelligent stories that are able to make you both think and feel, you must read this book, no matter what your age.