Conditions of Love (Laurel-Leaf Books)

Rating:
Summary: Conditions of Love
Review: Dealing with her parents divorce, Sarah Morgan's life took a big twist when her father died of a heart attack and she moved to a new town, and school. Sarah idolized her father, and even loved him more than her mother, without him she felt like life was cruel, and not worth living. Her day to day life consisted of her being the typical outsider in school, dealing with her friend's issues, and her mother trying to be her friend rather than the mother that she needed.
The author's diction gave Sarah a realistic teenage attitude. As I read the book I could almost put myself in Sarah's place as she described her relationship with her father and how she felt about her parents' divorce. The mood completely changed after Sarah found out that her father was a drunk and often hurt her mother. Matters really got worst as her mother got into a deeper relationship with her soon to be step father Mr. Cooper.
Sarah wanted to express her feelings to Ben, and wanted to help her friend over come her problems and solve environmental issues by wrting letters to the governor. Upon her friend's death she felt dissapionted but relief as a sign to move on with her life and make the best out of it.
This book is very realistic, honest, and unbelievable. I highly recommend it, espeacially for those in a parallel structure to Sarah.

Rating:
Summary: high school sexuality
Review: I enjoyed Conditions of Love. It showed me all the different types of love you could have for a person. I enjoyed the characters in this book. At some particular points in the novel, Sarah reminds me of my teen years and myself. Different parts of the novel made me feel sad for Sarah and all she had to go through in her teen years. Her friend, Ellie, is her only friend. Friends are the main things you need during your high school years along with family. One thing I didn't like about the book was Ellie's mom was so dysfunctional. Ellie's mother was a depressed alcoholic. Ellie's mom was always slamming her ex-husband and trying to get her daughters to hate him also. The girls were friends, but Ellie couldn't always be there for Sarah because she had to take care of her mother. Overall I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to teens. I enjoyed Conditions of Love. It showed me all the different types of love you could have for a person. I enjoyed the characters in this book. At some particular points in the novel, Sarah reminds me of my teen years and myself. Different parts of the novel made me feel sad for Sarah and all she had to go through in her teen years. Her friend, Ellie, is her only friend. Friends are the main things you need during your high school years along with family. One thing I didn't like about the book was Ellie's mom was so dysfunctional. Ellie's mother was a depressed alcoholic. Ellie's mom was always slamming her ex-husband and trying to get her daughters to hate him also. The girls were friends, but Ellie couldn't always be there for Sarah because she had to take care of her mother. Overall I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to teens.

Rating:
Summary: Very Realistic to High School Life
Review: I'm a teenager in high school myself, and I felt this books represents a lot of things going on in High schools. Ruth Pennebaker doesn't hold a lot back, and the trials that face the characters in the book face real life people today. There are no real stereotypes here, and it doesn't gloss over the surface as if looking from the outside in. This is real life. I'd recommend it to teenagers looking for something interesting to read, or adults who might need to understand their teens a little better.

Rating:
Summary: A great coming-of-age story.
Review: The story didn't really have a major conflict in it. It was subtle; generally it was about Sarah's learning the truth about her father, and about her drifting apart from her best friend. I would have liked to know more about Madeleine, but all in all it was a great book. It had a wistful tone to it throughout the entire story. Sarah's relationship with Ellie reminded me of mine with my former best friend, though our break was nowhere near as gentle. Not much actually happened in the story, but that's not a problem if the characters are good enough, which they were.

Rating:
Summary: Hard To Understand
Review: This book was very interesting.I found it hard to follow the book would jump from Sara's Mom and Grandmother and her Father to her best friend's problem with her family and also to the boy she loved.Once I understood what was happening I thought it was good but not great.The book is really funny and has some explict words and thoughts.If you like that kinda thing then you would love the book.When I started the book it was very hard to put down because well most teenagers think about some scenes in the book.The book is very funny and realistic.I recommend to all teenagers.

Rating:
Summary: what love can do to you.
Review: This short book tells a story about a young girl faced with many problems in life. She is going through a hard time in her life as her parents just divorced. Like any other person, they think that it is their fault that his or her parents divorced. Sarah( the young girl) would live with her mother after the divorce was final. Her mother and her did not get along as well as her father and her did. Sarah could relate to her father on a more fun and serious note. Sarah was a young teenage girl who liked to fight for her rights about things that were going on in life, such as fighting off the death penalties of innocent people. Sarah's best friend was busy with her alcoholic mother and her suicidal sister. She hardly had time to hang out with Sarah. Sarah learned that the unconditional love her father had given to her was all she need to get on in life.
I liked the book because I could relate to it myself. Most teenager's parents are divorced or having problems at home. Conditions of love tells that it is not at all your fault that the divorced. The Book also was a bit boring in some parts when all she ( Sarah) did was talk and explain how she felt. Other wise it was great and really showed an outside view on things.
posted May 16 2002