Rating: 
Summary: Everything a Novel needs!
Review: "The Center Of Everything" is everyday life in motion.
As the reader, we have the pleasure of getting into Evelyn's head, her insights, her observations about the world around her.
The thoughts about her mother--once beautiful and young, now a woman walking through the grocery store with baby food stains absorbed on her baggy blouse and her long hair unbrushed.
Thoughts about Travis, the love of her life, now clung to Deena, her movie star looking friend.
Thoughts about her highy autistic baby brother, Samuel, whom her mother has devoted her universe to.
Thoughts about God.
I adored being inside Evelyn's world--her everyday, ordinary world. A world she cannot get out of at 14 years old. A world some of us would stereo-type as a-- 'single mothered-welfare stinkin-cat-infested-trailer-trash-world.'
But Evelyn has a brain, a brain which will bring her out of that world--
And a mother, even in slippers and a stained night gown as her greatest asset, the one who made Evelyn into the woman she eventually becomes, who in the end--has the greatest impact on her.
***Laura Moriarty brings the reader into the everyday life of an extraordinary girl*** And into the world of the extraordinary mother who made her-- A mother you may see walking through the grocery store with unbrushed hair and dirty clothes, but do not judge too quickly!
Rating:
Summary: Simple, Yet Profound
Review: "The Center of Everything," with its youthful narrator in the "To Kill A Mockingbird" style, is a simple story, but creates a profound and lasting impact. This 'coming of age' first novel by Ms. Moriarty is highly recommended. We eagerly await her new book!
Rating:
Summary: Just off the mark
Review: A quick read, this book takes us into the lives of essentially good people who struggle to become more than their circumstances and histroy might dictate. Each, in their own way, achieves a measure of success, although it is likely that Evelyn will be the only one who is ultimately able to recognize and nurture a personal center that will allow her to fully blossom. I would have liked to have seen greater development of at least some of the many significant events and difficulties that beset this Kansas community. Possibly this was intentional, allowing the reader to enter into the resolution in a less directive manner. Laura Moriarity is a promising writer with a knack for protraying the human condition in a positive and hopeful light, emphasizing again the importance of relationship and compassion for each person.
Rating: 
Summary: LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: an enjoyable, engaging read. it's my choice for my next bookclub selection.
Rating:
Summary: Evelyn as the center of everything...
Review: Everyone is saying this has the distinct voice of To Kill a Mockingbird and it really is very similar. The story is not really like Mockingbird but the narrative perspective is told in the same way by Evelyn Bucknow. The book covers eight years of Evelyn's adolescence--from 10 years onto her graduation from high school. Her mother is constantly trying to make ends meet financially, and she loves Evelyn deeply. There is a great schism in the family because Tina, Evelyn's mother, had her out of wedlock. Tina's parents are extreme fundamentalists that will not let her forget her past. When Tina becomes pregnant again with a married man's baby, the problems start all over again, and Evelyn's grandmother, Eileen, is the only family that will talk to them. Evelyn's brother, Samuel, is born prematurely and it is soon obvious that he is mentally handicapped. Tina's role in the book changes to constant caretaker of Samuel, and Evelyn moves into her teenage years nearly alone. Her grandmother begins taking her to church, and Evelyn finds some answers there... yet she struggles with questions when one of her favorite teachers in school, Ms. Jenkins, becomes the target of a smear campaign by the fundamentalists for teaching evolution to the children. Evelyn's struggle to decide whether to side with her grandmother and the "nice people at the church" or her teacher shows exactly how Evelyn is certainly in the center of everything. The Center of Everything brings together many situations that Evelyn must confront--and she is a strong girl who has a very wise voice for someone so young.
Rating:
Summary: Great, Touching, Moving, etc...
Review: I absolutely was touched by this book. I was captivated from the first page all the way until the end. It is somewhat emotionally exhausting because these people are so vividly drawn that I really did come to care for them and the turbulent times can be difficult to witness when you really care. I agree that there are extreme similarities to "My Fractured Life" and some reflection of "White Oleander" but this is by no means a knock off. I argue instead that people who like one will like all three because they speak from the heart while dealing with a world of being lost.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: I am always looking for a good book to read, and I very rarely find one worth finishing. This book was quite the opposite; I wished it had gone on longer. It is a great book and I wish I heard about it more often, it deserves to be a best-seller.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book!
Review: I couldn't put this book down! Eveyln's point of view throughout the book is so funny, refreshing, and truthful. It took me right back to when I was a child (almost during the same era)and I cracked up at her analogies of situations. It was definitely a "make you feel good book"!
Rating:
Summary: A great debut novel
Review: I enjoyed this beautifully written book. It captures the essence of an intelligent adolescent girl who has a sense of what life is all about without being handed any real tools to help her draw conclusions. Through the influence of teachers who believe in her, she begins to believe in herself. Moriarty's novel tells a story of family strife, love, discords and growth on the road to Evelyn Bucknow's maturity in a way that is believable and not syrupy. It is not a "downer" at all. Instead, I found it endearing and think it could be inspirational to teen girls faced with some of the same problems. I hated to have it end and found myself thinking of Evelyn for days after I finished the story. Now I look forward to Laura Moriarty's next book!
Rating:
Summary: 80's Reagon Era Childhood Book
Review: I enjoyed this book a great deal, although others I loaned it to, found it a tad depressing. It is during the same period of time I grew up, the 80's, but in a small rural town. It is a story of a flower growing out of weeds, a young girl growing up with a single mom whom makes bad choices but is still likable and kind. Very nice touching book.
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