Hard Love

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Summary: Hard Love
Review: Recently I read Ellen Wittlinger's Hard Love. It was, by far, the most outstanding book I have ever read. I have read many books, and this was so creative and unique. I will probably read it again! I recommend this book to people over no younger than 13 because there are mature themes and language in it.

Rating:
Summary: Hard Love
Review: Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger, is a touching novel about a young teenage boy named John F. Galardi Jr. He is always depressed about his divorced parents. They split up about a year and a half ago. His mother never gave him the time of day, and his father didn't care about their scheduled dinner on Friday nights anymore. John is a very quiet person. His mother is an alcoholic and would rather be with her new fiancé Al. John tries to build a relationship with him, but he is just too much into himself. He works all the time so he always blames it on his job for not having enough time to spend with him. His father is the type of person who really wouldn't care what his son was doing. They always had a dinner plan for Friday nights, and ever since he and his wife split up, he just isn't the same guy. He wants to stay single and has no self-confidence in himself. He doesn't think that he will ever find true love ever again. He is supposed to spend the weekend with John, but always gives him the guilt trip for he not being able to go out. John loves to write poems about how he is feeling. He loves reading them too. He met a girl named Marisol through writing these poems in their zines. When he met her, he figured out what hard love really was. She took advantage of him and broke his heart. She ruined his Junior prom by telling him something she could of waited to say until after the night was over. She had other problems to deal with, so she was tied up with herself and her family. I would recommend it, because it's about teenage life and the struggles most teens go through while growing up with their parents. If you like reading about teenage problems with divorce, struggle, pain, friends, love, heartbreak and making it through, then you would like this book. This book touches most peoples lives, and makes you think about when you were a teen once before.

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Summary: Very good.
Review: This is such an intriguing and wonderful book.... I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in "finding your identity", zine writing, sexuality, and humor. It truly deserves the award on its cover.

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Summary: Reach
Review: John begins writing a zine to explore his untouched feelings since his parents divorced. He meets Marisol, a lesbian teen who also writes a zine, and he slowly falls in love with her, and nearly destroys their friendship. Through Marisol, John learns what love can be, and he learns how to reach out to his parents and how to listen to himself. It's a poignant story about dealing with the aftermath of divorce, and about a straight kid dealing with a gay friend. I had a hard time getting into it at first, and it wasn't because of the edgy fonts and zine-like constructions. I had a hard time liking John, but that rang true the more I learned about him, that he didn't even like himself really, so how could we?

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Summary: high points of Hard Love
Review: I am taking a class on literature for adolescents, and Hard Love caught my eye on the shelf because of it's appealing cover art. Our narrator, John ("Gio") due to emotional shutdown from his parent's divorce, is incapable of feelings. His zine and Marisol (fellow zine writer) open him up, upon which he proclaims his feelings for the lesbian Marisol. His love goes unrequited. I found this book well-written, and of high quality. The narrator had depth and the plotline is both realistic and fun. The best part of the book are the unique use of zines for a common interest of the protagonist and his best friend. This allow for various fonts, borders, handwritings, and clip art to keep the reader interested.

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Summary: excellent read
Review: this is the reason i love reading. sometimes i feel like books are just made for me to read and get! i loved this book so much. the best scene was the junior prom. Marisol cares so much about her friendship with the boy, she will do it because it means so much to him. unfortunately his feelings get the best of him, and marisol storms out. Hard times is hard love. and it's interesting because this book doesnt deal with lovey dovey love but friendship confused boundary lines love. the conversation in the street is one of the best in the book. even if you dont identify with the events in the story, thats NOT the point of reading (although some reviewers say so.) it's to be swept up in a completely different world so different from your own. i love that feeling, and 'HARD LOVE' is a prime example.

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Summary: Horable book!
Review: I absoulty hated this book because there isnt enough detailing in this boo and the way that author writes makes no sence ar all. The Characters are extremly weird and they dotn make sence either. So if i were i would go choose another book!

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Summary: Good eating, but didn't sit well
Review: All of the reviews that I've read about "Hard Love" were positive, despite the title of the book, which I was put off by. I read it anyway, and it didn't turn out to be the pathetic teen-angst crap-fest I thought it would be. The characterof John was believable, but I had trouble accepting the Marisol's character. She came off as hostile, and fell into many stereotypes that I've seen in teen novels; a beautiful, defensive girl that has everyone wanting her but her rejecting everyone. Speaking of stereotypes, the character of Birdy was one I found very degrading. For a monent it felt like I was reading some junior high student's interpretation of how homosexuals talk and act. None the less, the story was compelling. The ending was predictable, but I couldn't have written a better one. The story was honest and portrayed some interesting characters, most of all John, whom I sympathisized with immensley. Overall, a good read.

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Summary: Inspiration!
Review: Hard Love, the title makes it sound like some melodramatic teen love story, however, that assumption is totally inaccurate. First off, I love writing and the fact that this was a tale about teenagers and how putting there thoughts on paper helped them understand themselves and each other was inspiring. Before Hard Love, I had never even heard of a Zine but, the idea of one was so fun that I made my own...now I just have to decide what to do with it. I guess the main reason I enjoyed this book so thoroughly was that it didn't talk down to teenagers which is so often the case. It talked to the reader in a voice that didn't underestimate there intelligence and that is so important, I wish it had a sequel it was soo fabulous!

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Summary: Hard Love is AMAZING
Review: This is a great book! I don't even know where to start... I got it at the library to make me feel better after a 'hard love' of my own, and it made me laugh, cry, smile... it was just great! I could NOT put it down (I read it the same night I checked it out). I recommend this book to everyone and anyone because it really gives insight about a lot of issues, and it has some great poetry. I love the way it's printed- with the actual zine in the book! I really like the way Ellen Wittlinger writes, and I am looking on here for her other books. This is a great one to start with though, I think, and I completely recommend it!