Friday, September 23, 2011

60. Sweethearts - Sarah Zarr

Little Brown & Co., 1988
paper $7.99
220 pgs.
for: YA
Rating:  3.5

First Line/s:  A dripping faucet.  Crumbs and a pink stain on the counter.  Half of a skin-black banana that smells as old as it looks.  If I look at these things and at nothing else, concentrate on them and stay still, and don't make any noise, this will be over soon and I can go home without Cameron's dad ever knowing I'm here.

OSS:  When Cameron Quick reappears in Jennifer Harris' life after being the closest of friends as children, she is thrown for a loop.

Setting;  A ruralish area in Salt Lake City, contemporary times.

Cameron and Jennifer were best - and only - friends when they were young and they were both outcasts and bullied and unhappy.  They had each other, and that made their lives a lot better.  But then Cameron and his family disappear without a word, and Jennifer is left unsettled and wondering...for years.  She sheds weight, gains confidence, changes schools, and has a good life.  And then Cameron reappears.  Mysteriously.  And keeps disappearing, then reappearing.  Jen has a great boyfriend, lots of great friends, a stepfather that has helped stabilize her life, but with Cameron's reappearance she thinks, rethinks, remembers, and makes some interesting choices and decisions. 

Some of those memories involve learning about and watching the abuse that Cameron's father inflicted upon his family, particularly his son, and once, on her.  This was a very interesting book to read.  I kept thinking I'd already read it, but it must have been some of the scenes reminded me of other stories, because I'm quite sure I haven't read this before.  Okay.  Checked and saw that I read it when it first came out.  Guess it wasn't as memorable the first time around....

No comments: