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Break

by Hannah Moskowitz (Goodreads Author)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 959 ratings · 181 reviews

Jonah is on a mission to break every bone in his body. Everyone knows that broken bones grow back stronger than they were before. And Jonah wants to be stronger—needs to be stronger—because everything around him is falling apart. Breaking, and then healing, is Jonah’s only way to cope with the stresses of home, girls, and the world on his shoulders.

When Jonah's self-destr

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Paperback, 262 pages

Published August 25th 2009 by Simon Pulse

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Mar 09, 2010 ~Tina~ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: lib, young-adult, read-2010, unique

Did you know that when you break your bones, they grow back stronger? Well that's what Jonah figures he'd do. Get stronger. Since his life and the people in it is so messed up he figures that he'll be strong enough for all of them.....

Basically BREAK is probably the strangest book I've read thus far, but it's concept is crazy fascinating. And then when the book is all said and done it hits something so deep that it makes you wonder if it's an issue that really happening. This is a thought provok...more

12 likes · like · see review

Feb 11, 2013 Nessa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, review

The premise for Break both horrified and fascinated me when I decided to finally check out Hannah Moskowitz's works. (Maybe I could set aside March as Moskowitz Month? Hmm.)

I'd heard a lot of good things about Teeth, but I thought I'd plunge into the deep end with Break (any pun about Teeth being unintentional, believe me), and... you know the funny thing?

The day after I bought it, I tripped over and broke one of my toes. Then the next day, my dad slipped and rolled down a muddy embankment and b...more

10 likes · like · see review

Feb 06, 2010 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Three words: intense, fast-paced, awesome!

What an incredible debut! Moskowitz is an extremely talented writer! Break was full of fantastically portrayed three dimensional characters and an insane central idea. A goal to break every bone in your body? How does that not pique your curiosity. Well, it did mine and this lead to me completely devouring the entire novel in one setting.

Moskowitz did an outstanding job of creating that are relatable, they have problems, feelings, and circumstances tha...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jun 07, 2010 Corinne rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book knocked my socks off. I don't even know where to begin because all I want to say is you need to read it.

Jonah is on a mission to break every bone in his body, because everyone knows that broken bones heal back stronger and he needs to be strong. Everything else in his life is absolute chaos. He has one brother who is allergic to everything, a baby brother who doesn't stop crying (literally), parents who seem to be hanging on by a string, and friends who have no idea why he is doing wha...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jul 04, 2011 Jessica (Step Into Fiction) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: autographed, 5-stars

I bought this book and Invicible Summer at the same by Hannah but I wanted to read this one first. The concept really caught my attention. As someone whose broken a few too many bones in her lifetime...I know the pain that comes with it. I could never ever imagine doing it to myself on purpose, so I was intrigued. (view spoiler)...more

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Feb 28, 2012 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, brothers, real-life

(Re-posted from http://theturnedbrain.blogspot.com.au/)

The first thing that struck me about Break was how nice it was to read a YA book that didn't revolve around or devote a huge chunk of itself to romance. Jonah already has a girlfriend, (well, kind of), and while he likes her a whole heap he doesn’t obsess over her or doubt her feelings or worry overmuch about the relationship or any of that standard YA jazz. Break is a book hugely concerned with relationships, just not the teenagers in love...more (Re-posted from http://theturnedbrain.blogspot.com.au/)

The first thing that struck me about Break was how nice it was to read a YA book that didn't revolve around or devote a huge chunk of itself to romance. Jonah already has a girlfriend, (well, kind of), and while he likes her a whole heap he doesn’t obsess over her or doubt her feelings or worry overmuch about the relationship or any of that standard YA jazz. Break is a book hugely concerned with relationships, just not the teenagers in love kind.

This a book about family. Jonah has a brother, Jesse, who is allergic to pretty much everything. Regular trips to the emergency room kind of allergic. Good chance of dying young kind of allergic. His parents weren’t coping so well with it before, and they’re coping even less now there’s a new baby in the house. It doesn’t help that milk is among the many, many, many things Jesse is allergic to, and with a new baby there’s a lot more of it around. It’s a family on the edge of breaking, (that point between broken and unbroken is a running theme through this aptly titled novel) and Jonah is doing everything he can to hold it together.

It’s a lot of stress for a 17 year old kid, which probably explains why Jonah has also gone a little bit nuts. So apparently when you break a bone it heals stronger. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but Jonah certainly believes it is, and that’s why he’s embarked on a mission to break every bone in his body. As crazy as this sounds Jonah actually has a well thought out system of logic behind his quest, and slowly figuring out where his mind was at with this was one of my favourite aspects of the book. (Hint: it's not as obvious as you might think).

But still, ouch much? I don’t if the author Hannah Moskowitz broke a bunch of bones when she was a kid or maybe in the name of art she went out and broke a bunch for research, but she has the descriptions of it down. The anticipation of pain, the sick feeling, the crunch… It’s not so hard, I think, for an author to make a reader feels empathetic pain, but to make them feel physical pain along with the character… Moskowitza pulls it off, and I don’t know whether to be impressed or annoyed at her. There’s one scene where Jonah dives into an empty pool that made my heart physically race it was so awful. I don’t want to give the impression that the book is full of gore or going for cheap shocks, because it’s not like that at all. But it is definitely full on!

Another thing I liked was the relationship between Noah and his brother. But then, I’m a real sucker for brothers. I liked the way Jesse was obviously so fed up with Jonah’s overbearing concern, but at the same time obviously cares about him and panics at the thought of being without him. Similarly I liked that Jonah cared for Jesse so much, but at the same time resented him just a little. Their relationship was complex and convincing.

Less convincing were the parents. I had trouble accepting that they could be so very bad at looking after Jesse and dealing with his allergies. Or that they could be so blind to the fact that their other son was regularly doing himself serious damage. It’s not that I doubt such parents exist, they just seemed to be a bit over the top with their failing in this book.

I also had some issues towards the end of the book. (No spoilers, I promise). Jonah starts to unravel, and really strange things start to happen. I initially thought it was an excellent example of an unreliable narrator, that Jonah was really, really losing it and his perception of reality was slipping. But by the end of the book this appears to have not been the case, which kind of ruined things for me a bit. I mean, some of these things were really bizarre or just straight up weren’t explained at all.The ending is really abrupt, so maybe that's where my issue lies. Things went nuts and then things just ended.

Moskowitz had a really tight hold on the plot for the first three quarters of the book, so it was a shame to see it unravel all over the place like it did at the end.

Despite this, I still found Break to be highly engaging and also very, very interesting. I recommend it, especially if you're looking for a YA read that isn’t all about the make outs.(less)

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Sep 09, 2011 Alex Bennett added it

Even though I read and fell in love with two of Hannah Moskowitz’s other books, I held off reading her debut, Break until very recently. I honestly was just worried that I wouldn’t love it as much as Invincible Summer and Gone, Gone, Gone, which are both by Hannah and are both absolute favorites of mine. But I am happy to report that Break lived up to Moskowitz’s other novels, and exceeded my expectations.

All of Hannah Moskowitz’s books focus heavily on family, especially sibling relationships....more

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Jun 03, 2010 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, vine, fiction

Moskowitz is a talented young writer who effectively conveys teenage angst in a confident voice. Jonah purposely breaks his bones as a coping mechanism to his brother Jesse’s severe food allergies. Believing that his bones will heal stronger is his way of controlling the stress of his family, which includes a constantly ill Jesse, a screaming infant brother and feuding parents. But when the people who care about him find out his injuries are self-inflicted, Jonah has to face the repercussions of...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Alexa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, young-adult, 2011-reads, scb-challenge

3.5 stars

An interesting and unique read. Easy and quick to get through.

Jonah eventually figures out his reason for breaking his bones, but my reaction to it was probably similar to the psycologist's. It was a strange reason and didn't entirely make sense to me. (Although, I can kind of see why Jonah would think it made sense.) Another thing, I didn't understand what was up with those people in the psych ward. Why did they think that what Jonah did was so great? It was creepy. This book just made...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Bobbymathews rated it 5 of 5 stars

I went into this book not really knowing anything about Hannah Moskowitz other than that she's funny as hell on Twitter.

Then I read this, and boom ... incredible. Contemporary YA fiction has gotten much, much better since I was a kid, and Break is indicative of that trend. Loved. Every. Single. Line.

1 like · like · see review

Jan 17, 2011 Nora rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 100bookyear

This book absolutely blew me away. I heard about it a long time ago, meant to get it, and then...forgot. Break is heartbreaking and terrifying and even a little romantic, all at once. My father came into my room as I was nearing the end, and I practically yelled at him to leave me alone until I'd finished the book. Highly recommended. (review at http://www.noracoon.com)

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Jul 10, 2012 Callie S. rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In una vita piena d'interrogativi, la mia, ormai, è una certezza: il giovanilismo è la nuova piaga della nostra epoca.
Prendi un minorenne, quali siano le sue capacità, mettigli davanti una tastiera, pompagli l'ego e le fascette, e avrai un best-seller.
Non se ne esce.
Questo, almeno, è quanto ho pensato a lettura conclusa (poco meno di due ore via Gigetto, il mio e-book reader), rileggendo la pretenziosa nota di copertina.
Uno scivolone dell'editore, a mio avviso, perché se c'è un difetto c...more

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Jun 12, 2012 June Helmsley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: oh-hell-fucking-yes

Holy ballsweat! It's like a werewolf broke into my house and smashed the shit out of everything and then bought me dinner because GODDAMN, this book so owns my face now. Fucking property of Hannah Moskowitz on my goddamn forehead.

In a past review I decided Jay Bell's middle name was "Fuck yeah, bitch!" and so I will bestow such an honor on Ms. Moskowitz and from now on her middle name is "I came here to fuck bitches".

Artist's rendition:

So yeah, shit starts getting real because Jonah, the main ch...more

7 likes · like · see review

Sep 07, 2011 Karri Shea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Her sneakers make bubble-gum smacks against the pavement on her way to me… I choke out a sweaty, clogged piece of laughter… She waits while I pant, my head against my skinned knee. Colors explode in the back of my head. The pain’s almost electric… I expand and burst in a thousand little balloons.

- Break by Hannah Moskowitz

I am not a comtemporary YA kind of girl. I didn’t read it when I was of the age to be considered “YA,” and I don’t often read it now. I’ve always found the resolutions dissatis...more Her sneakers make bubble-gum smacks against the pavement on her way to me… I choke out a sweaty, clogged piece of laughter… She waits while I pant, my head against my skinned knee. Colors explode in the back of my head. The pain’s almost electric… I expand and burst in a thousand little balloons.

- Break by Hannah Moskowitz

I am not a comtemporary YA kind of girl. I didn’t read it when I was of the age to be considered “YA,” and I don’t often read it now. I’ve always found the resolutions dissatisfying, the need to dissect them in English class irritating, and the general absence of magic – well, lacking. But that’s just me.

While I’ve yet to have found a contemporary YA plot that truly thrills me – real life is just so, ugh, realistic – there’s no doubt that there’s great writing to be had within the genre, and Hannah Moskowitz’s Break is no exception. I pulled the quotes above from the first four or five pages of this debut novel about a boy on a mission to break every one of his bones, and each is descriptive gold. Reading this novel feels like careening pell-mell down a hill on a bike or a sled with no way of stopping – and I mean that in the best way possible. Jonah, our narrator, experiences life with all of his senses wide open and dictates it for us with vivid colour and dreamlike imagery. I spent a couple of hours in an increasingly lukewarm bathtub turning the pages of this book (a relatively quick read, but maybe two or three baths’ worth of time would have been better planning), and became invested enough in the characters to still be wondering about them once I’d reached the end – what was wrong with baby Will? Was Jonah going to have to answer for running away from the care home? Did the others at the home really start following in his footsteps near the end, or was that simply Jonah’s fevered imagination?

Ah, the curse of the contemporary novel – leaving me with just as many questions as life does.

To all you comtemporary fiction lovers out there – I’d highly recommend this one for its gritty realism and descriptive wizardry (had to fit some magic in there somehow).
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Feb 14, 2011 Jennifer Sommersby rated it 5 of 5 stars

What were you doing during your junior year in high school? Chasing boys? Cheering on the home team? Worrying about the perfect prom dress (or if you were even going to make it to prom)? Fighting with your parents because of their crazy restrictive curfews?

I don’t know what Hannah Moskowitz did to keep it real during eleventh grade. And considering she’s only nineteen, those days were, well, like, yesterday. I know one thing she did do, though. She got herself a little publishing deal with one o...more What were you doing during your junior year in high school? Chasing boys? Cheering on the home team? Worrying about the perfect prom dress (or if you were even going to make it to prom)? Fighting with your parents because of their crazy restrictive curfews?

I don’t know what Hannah Moskowitz did to keep it real during eleventh grade. And considering she’s only nineteen, those days were, well, like, yesterday. I know one thing she did do, though. She got herself a little publishing deal with one of the biggest houses in the country. In the world. She wrote a book called Break, and it is easily the most uninhibited, mind-numbing, high-concept YA (young adult) book I’ve ever come across.

From the back cover: Jonah is on a mission to break every bone in his body. Everyone knows that broken bones grow back stronger than they were before. Jonah wants to be stronger—needs to be stronger—because everything around him is falling apart.

YA isn’t just for the under-20 crowd anymore. And even though Break was published by a children’s imprint, it’s anything but juvenile. Moskowitz has infused a maturity into her work that clearly relegates her in the realm of prodigies—human beings that age shouldn’t know the stuff she’s writing. The story sounds simple enough—a kid hell-bent on self-destruction who finds that breaking his bones provides the rush and release other kids get from cutting, huffing, or drinking. But Jonah, and the life he is surrounded with, is complex and entangled. His baby brother never stops crying, for undiscovered medical reasons; his parents are embroiled in a taut, passive-aggressive, not-in-front-of-the-kids marriage; and his not-much-younger brother suffers from deadly allergies to milk, and pretty much everything else on the planet. Moskowitz’s vivid description of the mother’s sloppy lactation habits alone is enough to make the reader scratch her head and say, “How the hell did she know about this?” Moskowitz writes with a level of profundity unseen in most adult writers I read (and I read a lot), infusing deep psychological underpinnings in the latter scenes of the book where Jonah comes unraveled, or quite literally, broken.

The best advice I’ve ever received from a writing instructor was that, as writers, we must inject tension into every single scene. Moskowitz has done this; each page is ripe with tension of varying shades, from the stomach-curdling description of Jonah’s bones as they snap to the sexual tension of a seventeen-year-old boy involved in a relationship with his “non-girlfriend” Charlotte. The interpersonal relationships between Jonah and secondary characters are believable and heartbreaking, another testament to Moskowitz’s skill as a gifted teller of stories.

Moskowitz has a poet’s sensibilities in her tight, terse sentences, choosing every word for its merit rather than the beauty of its sound as it rolls off the tongue. If you have a sensitivity for the “F” bomb (which the writer uses with regularity), Break might turn you off, but understand that her choice to include such language is completely in alignment with Jonah’s character. The dialogue is true to type, and honest in its presentation. More compelling is the fact that Moskowitz wrote Break from an entirely male perspective, while she is female, not a small feat in any literary undertaking.

It is interesting to note that after reading Break, I emailed the writer to ask how many of her own bones she had broken in the process of writing this book. She emailed back within moments: none. Yeah, it’s that good.

Beyond my fascination with Moskowitz’s knack for shock value lies a visceral, educated writer who packs a powerful punch into every single sentence. On her acknowledgments page, she gives a thumb’s up to Chuck Palahniuk, a phenomenal novelist who twists humor and the macabre into a lickable candy stick at every turn. I am a diehard Palahniuk fan, and Moskowitz is the Palahniuk of her generation. If he hasn’t read this book, he should; it’s like listening to Gershwin and hearing the threads of Rachmaninov in the piece. Delicious. He would be so proud of sweet young Hannah.

Moskowitz, whose next book Invincible Summer is due out in 2011, is a cutting-edge up-and-comer to add to your must-watch list. This first example of her talents promises a long career of smart, excoriated fiction that sucks the reader in and holds them by the throat for the duration of the story. Break is a quick read, but one that will leave a lasting impression long after the final page has been turned.

And check out her blog at http://hannahmosk.blogspot.com/.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

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Feb 01, 2011 Tom Franklin rated it 4 of 5 stars

BREAK is a story about a family, each of is broken in very different ways. It's a difficult book to read on many levels and a brilliant book given that Hannah Moskowitz was still in high school when she wrote it.

The narrator, the oldest son, Jonah, feels responsible for protecting his younger, highly allergic, brother from all of the environmental and food elements that can kill him. There's a baby who cries incessantly and his mindlessly religious parents are quick to lash out verbally at one a...more

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Nov 04, 2010 Kaylea Antoine rated it 5 of 5 stars

The novel "Break" written by Hannah Moskowitz is a fiction piece that is based on the main character, Jonah, who feels that breaking every bone in his body will make him stronger. Jonah struggles with his internal feelings and outside conflicts with his brother, Jesse, who is allergenic to everything, his baby brother, Will, who cries his eyes out all the time and causes their mother and father to be stressed at work and home. Will's baby food is an allergetic source to Jesse and it causes him...more The novel "Break" written by Hannah Moskowitz is a fiction piece that is based on the main character, Jonah, who feels that breaking every bone in his body will make him stronger. Jonah struggles with his internal feelings and outside conflicts with his brother, Jesse, who is allergenic to everything, his baby brother, Will, who cries his eyes out all the time and causes their mother and father to be stressed at work and home. Will's baby food is an allergetic source to Jesse and it causes him to react with hives and makes Jonah feel as if he is responsible for his younger brothers needs. As Jonah continues to break his bones, he breaks his family's heart because they begin to think he is suicidal and having major issues; so they send him to a hospital that observes his body-breaking habit. While being at the hospital, Jonah and other teenagers that have problems within themselves become close and share the reason why they are there which only causes another problem. A girl who works in the hospital begins breaking her bones to make herself "stronger" as Jonah thought it would and he gets in trouble without knowing the reason why. When the doctors find out, they send Jonah upstairs on an empty floor and place him in a room that is supposed to make him learn his lesson. The worker who caused Jonah to be "locked up" went up to his room, apologized and let him run free. Jonah as an overprotective big brother falls into the place where he realizes that he cannot always have the worried and supportive role and ends up being taken care of by Jesse when he finds Jonah and Will lying down on the rainy, wet, concrete by their home. When Jonah awakens in the hospital, Jesse is standing over him lecturing him about his worrying and how he could have died by being outside in the rainy, cold weather unconscious with their baby brother because he was searching for Jesse. The book closes with Jonah stating that the final stage of bone breaking pain is healing and overcoming life's issues. My personal opinion about this novel is that it deserves two-thumbs up and five star rating. The book was not only saying that Jonah can overcome his issues but a general statement of life can be a bumpy road but it is up to you to decide whether or not you want to try to keep it as smooth as you can or not. I would recommend this piece to any person who is feeling that their life is hurting or anyone who wants to know why some people do the things they do to them self. Moskowitz is a very talented writer and definitely knows how to tell a story and keep a reader interested.(less)

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Jul 04, 2010 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

The main character in Break and I virtually have nothing in common, except for our ages. I'm a seventeen-year-old writing girl who doesn't swear and is absolutely too terrified to get in any likely-bone-breaking situations...and Jonah is a boy with a complicated mess of a home life, the pressures of his world on his shoulders, and a habit of intentionally breaking bones. Nevertheless, I found him tremendously sympathetic and compelling. This book really explores the burden of the responsibility...more

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Nov 23, 2009 Rachael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Some teens play sports. Other drink and party. But Jonah breaks bones—his own. Sure, it hurts, but broken bones always grow back stronger, and that’s what’s important. Jonah’s on a mission to break every bone in his body, because he wants to be stronger. It’s not because of his younger brother, who’s severely allergic to practically every food and thus frequents the ER too many times. It’s not because of his parents, who can barely handle their own affairs, let along anyone else’s. it’s not beca...more Some teens play sports. Other drink and party. But Jonah breaks bones—his own. Sure, it hurts, but broken bones always grow back stronger, and that’s what’s important. Jonah’s on a mission to break every bone in his body, because he wants to be stronger. It’s not because of his younger brother, who’s severely allergic to practically every food and thus frequents the ER too many times. It’s not because of his parents, who can barely handle their own affairs, let along anyone else’s. it’s not because of his baby brother who never stops crying or his best friend’s obsession with filming his destructive behavior or anything else he has to deal with at school or anywhere else. At least that’s what Jonah tells himself. But as Jonah’s life gets even more out of control, he must ask himself if breaking all his bones is the right way to become strong—before everything falls apart along with his body.

Break is a very emotional story about how the stresses of everyday life can push people nearly to their breaking point. For a debut author, Moskowitz displays extraordinary adeptness at communicating the social and psychological friction within relationships, particularly the alienation that can result when that tension becomes too much. Jonah’s story is one raw with emotion and pain, and the reader will form a deep connection with his character because of all he goes through and how realistic he is. Many readers will be able to sympathize and empathize with Jonah’s feelings of powerlessness amidst external events he can’t control but desperately wants to fix and his subsequent attempts to take back control of his life. Jonah’s violent self destruction is somewhat difficult to read about, as are the deteriorating conditions around him, but it only makes Jonah’s pursuit of real strength all the more important. Moskowitz nearly perfectly captures the psychological and emotional struggles that many teens face in this powerful and ultimately hopeful novel. I did notice several scenes that could’ve been better articulated and designed, but overall, Break is a very impressive debut.

This novel will resonate with every teen, especially any who’s ever felt their life is spiraling out of control, and with those who liked Crash Into Me by Albert Borris, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott, and Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers. I greatly look forward to more novels from Moskowitz.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com (less)

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Aug 08, 2009 Tasha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen

Authored by a senior in high school, this debut novel would make a veteran author proud. Jonah worries about a lot. He worries about his parents, worries about the fact his baby brother cries all the time, but most of all he worries about his younger brother, Jessie, who is severe and life-threatening allergies. After being hurt in a car accident, Jonah has started trying to break every bone in his body to make himself stronger. He is helped by his best friend, Naomi, who films him breaking his...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Manda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: beauty-ambiguity-allegory, stars-clouds-brain-food, words-for-you-truths-for-me, all-for-one-and-one-for-all, break-your-heart-kind-of-story, brothers-sisters-crazies, flawed-hero-to-root-for, i-feel-you-bro, male-pov, other-perspective-protagonist, reality-earnest-yet-unpretty, smells-like-teen-spirit, middle-child-syndrome

This girl. Did she really write this while still in high school? It's crazy that she can create these complex characters, relationships and mentalities that just jump out of the page at you. Don't be fooled by the only-3-stars rating - while not as good as her later work Gone Gone Gone and Teeth, it's still pretty good.

Jonah struggles with his role as oldest brother and protector to two younger brothers: Jesse, just a year younger, who is allergic to almost everything, and Will, the baby, who wo...more

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Mar 20, 2011 Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

Jonah is a seventeen year old boy who is on a mission to break every bone in his body. Not for attention, not for the video footage his friend films, but because broken bones become stronger when they heal. Jonah carries a lot on his shoulders - his parents argue, and he always seems stuck in the middle; his 8 month old brother Will has been crying nonstop since he was born; his sixteen year old brother Jesse... well Jesse is Jonah's responsibility. Jesse is allergic to basically all foods and a...more

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May 09, 2010 Tabitha Olson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: recent-reviews

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I first picked this book up, I was hooked. Jonah's voice is so fresh and real, and the writing is sharp. His relationship with his brother, Jesse, is heartfelt and strong. In fact, all of the younger characters in this book are very real.

The first two thirds of the story really pulled me in. I was dying to find out why the baby brother, Will, cried so much. I had to know more about Jesse's allergies. And, this question was burning a hole in the back of my mind: what is Jonah going to do to...more When I first picked this book up, I was hooked. Jonah's voice is so fresh and real, and the writing is sharp. His relationship with his brother, Jesse, is heartfelt and strong. In fact, all of the younger characters in this book are very real.

The first two thirds of the story really pulled me in. I was dying to find out why the baby brother, Will, cried so much. I had to know more about Jesse's allergies. And, this question was burning a hole in the back of my mind: what is Jonah going to do to make things better? I happily read the story, unable to put it down, until the big intervention. After that, several instances didn't make sense to me.

*SPOILER ALERT*
-I just couldn't believe that Jonah would willingly remove himself from his home. It was clear that he believed his parents were incompetent, which set off Jesse's allergies constantly. Since Jesse is obviously so important to him, I just can't see him leaving without putting up a serious fight.
-I can't believe Jonah's medical condition would have been overlooked for so long at the rehab center. Or that he'd be thrown into isolation so easily.
-The twist with Naomi threw me for a loop. The whole story was set up such that she liked Jonah - she doesn't like seeing him with Charlotte even though she likes Charlotte, she wears his sweatshirt, she encourages him to break his bones, etc. So I didn't understand why she suddenly went for Jesse.
-I was incredibly disappointed we never found out why Will cried so much. This aspect of the story played such a huge part that it should have gotten a bit more attention in the end.
*END SPOILER ALERT*

Overall, I think my reaction to this story can be boiled down to the characters: the kids vs. the adults. The beginning of the book focuses more on the kids, and, in the end, the adults step in. The kids in this story are wonderfully dynamic and three-dimensional. The adults, however, are flat. Once I found out how old the author was, that made sense. She hasn't been an adult yet, and therefore doesn't completely understand them. But she's obviously observant and insightful, and is only limited by her own experience. So it's only a matter of time before her adult characters are leaping off the page. I look forward to her future books.

I think this story is one that teens will instantly relate to, but adults will have a harder time. I would definitely recommend it to older teens - the large amount of profanity and violence of the subject matter is likely too mature for a younger audience.(less)

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Mar 21, 2010 Matthew Crespo rated it 4 of 5 stars

overall i really liked this book because it got really good and it kept hooking me in. this book is mainly about this boy named Johnah who plans to have only one goal in life. get stronger. the only way for him to get stronger is for him to break all his bones so he may be able to grow better bones and get stronger. what i learned in this book is to simply not give up on your self. to always accomplish your goals and most of all, to have faith. Jonah clearly demonstrates this.

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Jan 22, 2010 Sherry rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book starts out very strong, right in the action. I LOVE that. So many books that I enjoy have a very slow beginning and they don't start getting good until a little ways in, but not this one. I had started reading it, unfortunately had to stop for something, and when I picked it back up again I read it the whole way through. The pace quickens at the end and I found myself speedreading to find out what was going to happen. The characters are written wonderfully. They interact just as I imagi...more

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Dec 04, 2009 Nikole rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-for-09-reading-class

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May 10, 2011 (Lady Anna Earnshaw) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: le-migliori-letture-del-2011

Ossa rotte, ragazzi rotti e storie rotte. Anche io, come chi mi ha preceduto nel recensire ero scettica a leggere l'età dell'autrice. Pensavo, stupidamente, ad un romanzetto provocatorio sulla sofferenza che attanaglia tutti gli adolescenti, qualcosa di ostentato ed esagerato. Ed invece il testo è lieve, delicato, dolce e divertente a tratti così come tragico e vero in altri. Tutti i personaggi, anche quelli appena disegnati, sono ben caratterizzati e percepibili come personaggi propri ed a se,...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Dot Hutchison rated it 4 of 5 stars

Break a bone and it knits back stronger. Get through the pain, get through the recovery, and there’s something stronger, something better. Snap. Splint. Strengthen.
Jonah is on a mission. There are 206 bones in the human body and he’s out to break them all, to knit them back into a better pattern, some kind of strength that can resonate through him into a family that needs it more than anything. To a brother and best friend with countless deadly allergies. To a baby brother who hasn’t stopped cry...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Monique Sanchiz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hannah Moskowitz is my favorite YA Contemporary writer. I’m totally infatuated with her writing style. She’s raw, aggresive, and uncompromising. Break is no different.

I found myself comparing Break to Fight Club a number of times when reading it. The only difference is that with Break, the book ends before we see bone-breaking become the next cutting among teenagers, or before the first bone-breaking club is formed. In fact, like Gone, gone, gone and Invincible Summer (her other books), it ends...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hannah Moskowitz is definitely one of my favorite authors. I loved Invincible Summer and I loved Gone, Gone, Gone so it is only expected that I would love Break. As expected, I really loved Break.

There is nothing negative I could say about this book. What's not to love? It was absolutely incredible. I read this book in one sitting. To put this in perspective, I have the attention span of 3 year old and can easily get distracted by anything around me so rarely do I read books in one sitting.

I do...more

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About Hannah Moskowitz

Hannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. She was disqualified for violence. Her first book, BREAK, was on the ALA's 2010 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. She is a student at The University of Maryland.

I rate emotionally more than intellectually. 5 stars means I loved it, not that it was...more

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Quotes from Break

“At the Hospital, everyone thinks about dying.And I'd never been much for romanticizing death-especially not suicide. I'd always been a fan of staying alive.
After all, you basically do all you can not to die. All the time. The search for immortality isn't just from storybooks. every day you do it. You buckle your seat-belt, you take vitamin supplements, look both was before you cross the street. And you really think your doing all you can. Bullshit. We can lift weights for fucking hours and we're still going to die.” — 20 people liked it

“It's been about six months since I've had something in a cast. Kids at school laugh and call me a klutz. This girl Charlotte carries my books. My parents are baffled. Will cries. Jesse keeps getting sick.
You're broken, and you're fixed.
And you're better,” — 7 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: Break Goodreads rating: 3.95 (959 ratings)
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