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Book Review of Sweethearts

Sweethearts
Sweethearts
Author: Sara Zarr
Genres: Children's Books, Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Hardcover
GeniusJen avatar reviewed on + 5322 more book reviews


Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

I enjoyed this book. SWEETHEARTS is a character-driven novel where there isn't much action but a big emotional journey with quite a kick.

Jennifer Harris is a social outcast. She is fat and the other girls in third grade are very mean. She eats lunch alone until the day that she decides to make Cameron Quick her friend. After that, she and Cameron are always together, both of them outcasts.

Then, one day Cameron disappears, and the other kids tell her that he is dead.

The book then forwards on to present day and Jennifer has recreated herself. She is pretty, popular, has a cute boyfriend, and has changed her name to Jenna. She is a senior but she feels like she is just acting a part. It takes a lot of energy to be the girl that she is.

Enter Cameron Quick -- who she thought was dead. He reenters her life and the past comes flooding back in big waves. They reconnect and discover what real love is all about. I liked the fact that this relationship between Cameron and Jennifer was real but not sexual. In fact, when she does have sex with her boyfriend she feels unconnected to him. This
love is not about sex but about experiences that will live within you for a lifetime. It rushes in and takes over.

The characters of the story were real and you truly wanted to be their friends. I especially liked Jennifer's dad. He was someone that I wish I could talk with for hours. The book is also one that doesn't have a definitive ending. I kept thinking up fun endings for days afterwards.