false 790289 7 John Galardi is a loner, unable to express his feelings except in the pages of his zine, "Bananafish." He finds inspiration in another zine, "Escape Velocity," created by Marisol Guzman, a self-proclaimed "rich spoiled lesbian private-school gifted-and-talented writer virgin." Her sharp observations make John laugh out loud and he decides he must meet this witty author. By planting himself in Tower Records the day she drops off the latest issue, John manages to arrange a coffee date that extends over several Saturday mornings. They discuss everything from John's inability to feel and his parent's divorce to Marisol's problems with her suffocating adoptive parents. When Marisol casually tells John that she likes him, he is flabbergasted: "Honest to God a shiver ran through my body... Nobody ever said that they liked me. Ever. Not even [my friend] Brian, who probably actually doesn't." After a disastrous "just friends" junior prom date and a weekend zine conference spent together, John realizes that his feelings for Marisol are more than platonic. And Marisol, who is exploring her identity as a young lesbian, has no idea how to let John down gently without losing her new best friend. Like Barbara Wersba's <I>Whistle Me Home</I>, <I>Hard Love</I> tackles the delicate issue of unrequited love between a straight and gay teen. But what sets this novel apart from similarly themed books is Wittlinger's choice to present the story from John's straight male point of view. Funny and poignant first-person narration will engender empathy for John as he attempts to connect with his emotionally distant parents and an understanding of how his need for their affection has manifested itself in romantic feelings for a girl he knows is unavailable to him. <I>Hard Love</I> is a thoughtful and on-target addition to the growing canon of gay and lesbian coming-of-age stories. <I>--Jennifer Hubert</I> 1427052 1 4 2001 Hard Love total:906|5:258|4:304|3:247|2:83|1:14| 906 3427 1295 150 5 3 false false Sat Jun 23 21:52:57 -0700 2007 Tue Apr 22 13:05:40 -0700 2008
Then this is the book for you. Meet John Galardi, a loner and a teenager with divorced parents, trying to express hims...more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Fri Aug 24 11:53:51 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 11:53:51 -0700 2007 Parrotfish.

Reg...more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 15:21:10 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 15:21:29 -0800 2009 Hard Love is a beautiful, heartbreaking, thought-provoking love story between two teenagers. The biggest catch though, is that one of them is gay. John knows Marisol is gay because of the zines (self-produced magazines) she writes. Her zines are full of wit, sarcasm, and brutal honestly. John waits...more...]]> 5 1 false true Fri Aug 17 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Dec 21 08:33:21 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 21 08:39:11 -0800 2008 5
Before this, I have only limited myself to reading chicklit -- and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I wanted more. Something that goes beyond heroine gets the hero, or something like that...more...]]> 0 1 false false Sun Aug 10 15:30:39 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 15:32:01 -0700 2008

“Zine” is the name for an independent publication or alternative newsletter, with topics ranging from self-exploration to punk bands to comics to travel to DIY instructions and on...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon May 26 20:25:13 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 20:43:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Mar 25 02:57:03 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 03:04:45 -0700 2008 Ellen Wittlinger

Walking passed that person- that girl or guy you just can’t stop thinking of-gives you a bag of butterflies fluttering around in your stomach. You find your mind wondering off. How wonderful life wou- then you come back to earth real...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 02 16:47:13 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 03 11:34:10 -0800 2007
John Galardi, high school junior and zine writer, comes from a broken Boston-area home. During the week he lives wit...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 20 18:40:19 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 20 18:49:14 -0800 2007 more...]]> 0 1 false false Sun Mar 23 14:32:41 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 23 14:32:41 -0700 2008 one more YA book, and then I'm going back to grown-up reading - I promise! This one was recommended on one of the blogs I read: http://worththetrip.wordpress.com/2008/0... When I saw that the author is from Swampscott, I no longer had any choice but to read it. But the uncanniness was just begi...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Dec 31 06:13:44 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 06:16:31 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 11 19:34:14 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 20 13:12:52 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Dec 13 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 11:55:30 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 12:00:28 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 04 19:13:06 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 09:55:00 -0700 2009 Wittlinger Ellen

Have you ever love someone who just didn't love you back? Well in Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger John fell in love with a girl, Marisol, who just didn't love hime back because she wasn't attracted to John's sex. This was a low blow to John when he found ou...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 27 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 15:53:49 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 28 20:09:21 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Dec 11 16:24:09 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 16:28:51 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 12 16:54:05 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 13:27:24 -0700 2009 Hard Love, is like so many YA stories - John(or Gio - you'll have to read it to understand)is a 16-year-old trying to find his way through the ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 11:41:08 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 17:10:57 -0700 2009
The storyline is that John (Gio) is a boy self-described as having no emotions. He has one friend and his parents are separated. His hobby is reading and creating "zines" which are self published artistic and literary mini magazines. He meets up with his fa...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 14:32:58 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 10 10:47:16 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 00:02:24 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 00:07:54 -0700 2009 more...]]>