Thursday, September 29, 2011

Easier to Love & Big Round Things

Back When You were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith is the story of Joy who is spending her last two years of high school in Haven, Utah. She longs to be back in Claremont, California where she had lived her whole life. Although she has made new friends, she misses her old ones. She also misses Zan, her boyfriend who left early for college without a word. Joy and Noah, Zan's previous best friend go on a road trip to the college seeking closure. Why did Zan leave without saying goodbye? And why doesn't he want to be found?

As they drive together, Joy looks back on her life adding in both "then" and "now" to her story. Honestly, I really liked this book, especially the cover. Names were great: Joy, Mattia, Charlotte, Noah,  Gretel, ect. The COVER is awesome too, as well as the title. I , so her mourning was slightly annoying to me. As Emily Wing Smith says, "You never forget your first love,really liked it; the only problem was at the beginning when she talked about Zan. I don't know what it's like to be heartbroken but sometimes you should." And that's what this novel is about. First love and loving again without even knowing it and about friendships and broken hearts and healing hearts. What people say about this book is what I'm saying. We are all saying the same thing. This book was a great read.

Back When You Were Easier to Love

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler is about Ginny Shreve who is slightly overweight and comes from a "perfect" family. Her sister has joined the Peace Corps and lives in Africa. Her brother is a student at Columbia. Her best friend, Shannon, has moved to Walla Walla, home of the onion, and the place for lovers. Froggy Welsh the Fourth has taken an interest in her, but she's too worried that he might notice her weight. She is the odd one out in her family. Until a phone call changes everything. Until a phone call makes Ginny decide to be brave and not worry about her family's expectations. A phone call that means no one is perfect. A phone call that takes her to see Shannon, get her eyebrow pierced, and begin kickboxing, and start writing, and gets her a friend back home. That's all it takes to change things. In Ginny's mind and attitude as well as in her life. An encouraging novel for young women. I really liked it. Ginny is a relate-able character who learns the world isn't perfect and how to deal with an imperfect world.