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7th out of 81 books
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122 voters
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Sweethearts
by
Sara Zarr
As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another's only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she's lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she's popular, happy, and dating, everything "Jennifer" could...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
February 1st 2008
by Little, Brown Young Readers
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Nomes
rated it
It's the kind of a book you sink into and feel immersed in the world and story. It was a quiet but compelling read and I enjoyed pretty much every minute of it. Zarr has this way of writing so that her sentences are emotive in the most subtle and unassuming of ways. I don't know how she does it, as her prose is quite simple, yet I felt moved as the story unfolded and I was captivated by both Jenna and Cameron's story.
Cameron and Jenna are achingly flawed and struggling within them...more
Cameron and Jenna are achingly flawed and struggling within them...more
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Bleh. I kept thinking I would start liking this book, but I never did. I just wasn't sympathetic to the character at all, and I felt like the author was shoving it down my throat that I should sympathize with this poor girl who has had it so hard.
And through the whole book, she keeps alluding to this deep, dark secret thing that happened to her as a child . . . you get little pieces of that story as mini-flashbacks, but she doesn't reveal the whole thing, to keep you in suspense, ...more
And through the whole book, she keeps alluding to this deep, dark secret thing that happened to her as a child . . . you get little pieces of that story as mini-flashbacks, but she doesn't reveal the whole thing, to keep you in suspense, ...more
Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
Jenifer was a fat kid with only one friend. I also was I fat kid when I was little, people picked at me all the time. It was sad, I usually went home in tears. Jenifer was not the richest kid at kid either. Cameron was Jenifer’s one friend. Jenifer and Cameron were always together. Cameron even lived with Jenifer and her mother for a week. Jenifer’s father left her mother. Cameron had a hard life. Cameron’s father seemed kina of crazy, to me. Once when...more
Jenifer was a fat kid with only one friend. I also was I fat kid when I was little, people picked at me all the time. It was sad, I usually went home in tears. Jenifer was not the richest kid at kid either. Cameron was Jenifer’s one friend. Jenifer and Cameron were always together. Cameron even lived with Jenifer and her mother for a week. Jenifer’s father left her mother. Cameron had a hard life. Cameron’s father seemed kina of crazy, to me. Once when...more
I don't know what I expected when I first read this' book description. But it's safe to say that it wasn't what I got.
This book is raw, it is tragic and nostalgic but it's full of hope too. And love.
I've never read a book about the kind of love this two teenagers have. Jennifer and Cameron, they were best friends
back in elementary school. Actually they were each other's only friend. Due to the fact that they were practicaly
the only non-mormon kids in their school, a...more
This book is raw, it is tragic and nostalgic but it's full of hope too. And love.
I've never read a book about the kind of love this two teenagers have. Jennifer and Cameron, they were best friends
back in elementary school. Actually they were each other's only friend. Due to the fact that they were practicaly
the only non-mormon kids in their school, a...more
Kristi (The Story Siren)
added it
Finally Jena is the person she wants to be. No longer is she Jennifer Harris from her elementary school days. She isn’t fat anymore, she doesn’t live in a crummy apartment and she isn’t teased anymore.
The new girl, Jena, has it all. She is popular, has a boyfriend, a handful of friends, and lives in a nice house. As much as she would like, Jena can’t let go of her past. Her memories continue to haunt her, especially her memories of Cameron. Cameron Quick was Jennifer’s only friend in...more
The new girl, Jena, has it all. She is popular, has a boyfriend, a handful of friends, and lives in a nice house. As much as she would like, Jena can’t let go of her past. Her memories continue to haunt her, especially her memories of Cameron. Cameron Quick was Jennifer’s only friend in...more
I know STORY OF A GIRL was a National Book Award finalist, but I didn't love it--while the story was realistic, the main character just wasn't one that I clicked with as a reader. But I've been reading Sara's blog off-and-on for a good while and really appreciate that she always has really interesting things to say. I'd been more than curious to read SWEETHEARTS ever since she said on there awhile back that she'd been thinking and writing about how "we all have the faces we show to the peop...more
So beautiful. I wish things could have been different.
It needs a better ending! I think I am going to try to stay out of the young adult books now because all of them have the same problem! The ending!
Nine-year-old Jennifer Harris, cursed with a lisp and baby fat, is friendless until she gets up to the courage to talk to Cameron Quick, a poor, awkward boy who is also a social outcast. They are instant soul mates until Cameron mysteriously moves away without saying good bye. Eight years later Jennifer Harris has become Jenna Vaughn, a skinny, popular high-schooler with a hunky boyfriend. Yet she is still haunted by the memories of her childhood friend. When Cameron suddenly reappears at sc...more
I was never bullied or picked on when I was in middle school, but novelist
made me feel as if I had been there right along with main character Jennifer Harris.
The story of how as a child Jennifer was ridiculed and bullied. But making it
through with her one and only friend Cameron Quick. Then suddenly he
disappears.
Cameron Quick is the only reason I kept reading this book. He made me feel all
of his emotions. I suffered right along with him. He also was ...more
made me feel as if I had been there right along with main character Jennifer Harris.
The story of how as a child Jennifer was ridiculed and bullied. But making it
through with her one and only friend Cameron Quick. Then suddenly he
disappears.
Cameron Quick is the only reason I kept reading this book. He made me feel all
of his emotions. I suffered right along with him. He also was ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was a great read. I read it in a few hours. The story pulls you in immediately. Jennifer and Cameron at the age of 9 are best friends, but one day Cameron is gone. Jennifer at first feels abandoned and suspects that he died, because of rumors and because she thinks he wouldn't just leave her behind to deal with her unpopularity and awkwardness. Soon Jennifer resolves to change herself, even changing her name to Jenna. 8 years later a popular Jenna with friends and a boyfriend is shock...more
As a child, Jennifer Harris was a social outcast. She was nicknamed the Fattifier, because she was chubby, and made fun of for her lisp. Her only friend was another outcast named Cameron Quirk. They were always there for each other, and Cameron made everything bearable for Jennifer. And when he suddenly leaves without even saying goodbye, Jennifer is devastated. She thinks that he is dead, and no one tells her otherwise.
Now Jennifer Harris is Jenna Vaughn. Her mom got married and Jen...more
Now Jennifer Harris is Jenna Vaughn. Her mom got married and Jen...more
Whoa. Such a tearjerker -- and I mean that in a good way. The story of Jennifer and Cameron is darn bittersweet. The two of them are social outcasts in elementary school and best friends, and when he suddenly disappears, she's devestated.
Fast forward nine years: Jennifer has moved, gotten a great stepfather, lost weight, and has a pretty boyfriend in the popular crowd. She feels like a phony, though -- that her unpopular child self is still lurking over her shoulder. When Camero...more
Fast forward nine years: Jennifer has moved, gotten a great stepfather, lost weight, and has a pretty boyfriend in the popular crowd. She feels like a phony, though -- that her unpopular child self is still lurking over her shoulder. When Camero...more
Jennifer Harris is able to do what every adolescent girl hopes for—she reinvents herself between middle school and high school from the tubby outcast with a lisp to a beautiful individual with all of the right friends. She loses weight, changes her name to Jenna, transfers schools and even gets the perfect boyfriend. But she also has the same fears as every teenage girl—she is afraid that all of the perfect people in her perfect life will see past the skinny exterior and see her for the fraud sh...more
Maybe this is more of a meditation-using-fiction than it is a novel. It's a beautiful evocation of how it feels when someone has a permanent effect on you but it simply can't be seen or understood from the outside. The years-later epilogue that some have found odd was a necessity, I felt, to make it clear that there could not be a romantic ending -- something the adult knows but the teenager doesn't.
Sweethearts I just read, so it is more fresh. When they were in elementary school Jennifer and Cameron were each other’s only friends. But he disappeared, and she thought he was dead. And so she recreated herself and now she is Jenna with friends, family, and boyfriend. But Cameron comes back and everything is not so easy anymore. Although I suspect it never really was, it is hinted at, never explicit, which is part of the genius of Zarr allowing her characters to truly develop in the reader’s m...more
Molly
rated it
Recommends it for:
teen girls, people with teen girls in their lives, people who want to write books for teen girls
I liked this! I wasn't a HUGE fan of Story of a Girl, but I do appreciate Zarr's understated stories, incredibly realistic characters, and true-to-life, not over-the-top ending. I am hopeful that her books indicate a trend in YA novels for girls - that we will be hearing the stories of REAL girls - not girls who go to elite private/boarding schools whose parents are celebrities and who have amazing, glamorous looks/talents/friends, etc.
The only complaint I really have with this b...more
The only complaint I really have with this b...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I enjoyed the way you know something happened, then what happened is exposed, then you actually get to see some fallout of the exposition. (How's that for cryptic?) Short chapters (yay!)
I thought this book to be good. I found the plot to be pretty realistic--after all, most of us feel left out once or more in our lives. I loved the relationship between Cameron and Jenna, and also how Jenna can pretend that the 'old' Jennifer 'died,' but she's very much alive inside Jenna Vaughn.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. It had romance and also some sad parts, too.
Rating:
95/100
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. It had romance and also some sad parts, too.
Rating:
95/100
i was very pleasantly surprised by this book. I will admit, I didn't really enjoy Zarr's first novel because it didn't seem that anything actually happened.
well lots happens in her second novel due out in april. What happens when your best friend, your only friend, who you thought was dead, shows up one day and tries to explain where he'd been all those years? Or actually not even explain, just left you wondering until your mother somehow fills in the blanks of abuse and leaving without lo...more
well lots happens in her second novel due out in april. What happens when your best friend, your only friend, who you thought was dead, shows up one day and tries to explain where he'd been all those years? Or actually not even explain, just left you wondering until your mother somehow fills in the blanks of abuse and leaving without lo...more
An excellent coming-of-age tale. Jenniifer, AKA Jenna, has transformed from a chunky, lisping kleptomaniac into a slender and charming teenager, despite a tortuous childhood. Her best (and only) friend Cameron left abruptly and Jennifer was told that he had died in a freak accident. When she discovers that Cameron has not died but, in fact, is still alive and has recently enrolled in her high school, Jenna must reconcile who she is today with the "Jennifer" of her past. Heartbreaking, ...more
Wow. I only chose this book, because of the title and Valentine's Day. I did not expect it to impact me the way it did. I think I've only cried once or twice over a book in my life and I've read a lot of books, but this one hit me hard. I connected with every part of this book in such a strong way and now I feel at a loss because I finished it. Clearly..., because I never write these review things. The book took me back through a lot of my own childhood and the author said things that I've fe...more
As she did in her first novel, Story of a Girl, Zarr explores the inner life of a girl who has been cruelly ostracized by her peers. But this story is completely different from her first one. Here that main character was a social outcast in elementary school who completely re-invented herself in high school. When her only friend from elementary school suddenly reappears in senior year, she has to examine who she really is and who her friends are. Sara Zarr is definitely a rising star in the fiel...more
A welcome change from the last YA book I finished. I heard great things about her first novel and she seems to have done it again. Very well written, concise (just over 200 pages - yay!), with main characters that felt real. It was a 'problem' novel of sorts, but really was more about finding out who we are as individuals. I was amazed at how she Zarr did so much with so few pages, a lesson for many contemporary YA authors! A great coming-of-age tale that I will feature for this summer's "M...more
I really wanted to like this book, but there was something about it that just didn't ring true.
First of all, growing up as one of the only Mormons in a non-Mormon area, the references to being a non-Mormon in Mormon country struck me as someone throwing in all these references to mean Mormons just because she's got a chip on her shoulder. Yes, I know what it's like to be the one that doesn't fit in religiously (yes, some people are that stupid--both Mormons and non-Mormons alike in ...more
First of all, growing up as one of the only Mormons in a non-Mormon area, the references to being a non-Mormon in Mormon country struck me as someone throwing in all these references to mean Mormons just because she's got a chip on her shoulder. Yes, I know what it's like to be the one that doesn't fit in religiously (yes, some people are that stupid--both Mormons and non-Mormons alike in ...more
This book is short but sweet. This is the story of Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick, friends from childhood. But when Cameron disappears one day and never comes back, Jennifer thinks he is dead. Cameron returns her senior year in high school after she has reinvented herself as Jenna Vaughn--a cooler and slimmer version of her younger self.
Throughout the book, we get flashbacks to Jennifer's ninth birthday and the major event that happened that day with Cameron, Jennifer, and Came...more
Throughout the book, we get flashbacks to Jennifer's ninth birthday and the major event that happened that day with Cameron, Jennifer, and Came...more
I thought I'd like the premise--a boy and girl who are deeply close at 9, are completely separated until they are 17. But there are a variety of plot elements which never really leave the sea of ambiguity. They protected each other in a storm of self abuse or parental abuse when they were young. He seems to have really loved her. They shared an awful secret. She had a bizarre communication breakdown with her mom (could a mom really be that stupid?) She reinvented herself after he left, and now h...more
Book Title: Sweethearts
Author: Sara Zarr
# of pages: 217
Publisher: Little, Brown; Janaury 2009
As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also each other’s only friend. So when Cameron disappeared without warning, Jennifer thought she’d lost the one person who would ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she is popular, happy, and dating–everything “Jennifer” couldn’t be. But she...more
Author: Sara Zarr
# of pages: 217
Publisher: Little, Brown; Janaury 2009
As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also each other’s only friend. So when Cameron disappeared without warning, Jennifer thought she’d lost the one person who would ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she is popular, happy, and dating–everything “Jennifer” couldn’t be. But she...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What do you think of the book cover? | 1 | 3 | Jan 30, 2012 10:10am | |
| Jenna & Cam | 3 | 11 | Jan 06, 2012 05:01pm | |
| Sweethearts | 3 | 56 | Jan 04, 2012 06:35pm | |
| YAA: Sweethearts by Sara Zarr | 4 | 5 | Nov 11, 2011 09:24am |
Sara Zarr is the acclaimed author of three novels for young adults: Story of a Girl (National Book Award Finalist), Sweethearts (Cybil Award Finalist), and Once Was Lost (a Kirkus Best Book of 2009). Her short fiction and essays have also appeared in Image, Hunger Mountain, and several anthologies. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, and online at www.sarazarr.com
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“. . .There are certain people who come into your life, and leave a mark. . . Their place in your heart is tender; a bruise of longing, a pulse of unfinished business. Just hearing their names pushes and pulls at you in a hundred ways, and when you try to define those hundred ways, describe them even to yourself, words are useless.”
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“Because love, love is never finished. It circles and circles, the memories out of order and not always complete.”
—
121 people liked it
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