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Library | Audience | Home Location | Material Type | Shelf Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Central | Teen/Young Adult | Open Stacks Fiction | Open Stacks Teen Book | ZARR | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Walter | Teen/Young Adult | Fiction | Teen Book | ZARR | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
After losing her soul mate, Cameron, when they were nine, Jennifer, now seventeen, transformed herself from the unpopular fat girl into the beautiful and popular Jenna, but Cameron's unexpected return dredges up memories that cause both social and emotional turmoil.
Author Notes
Sara Zarr was raised in San Francisco, went to high school in Pacifica, California, and now lives with her husband in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is the author of Story of a Girl and can be found on the web at www.sarazarr.com.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This book about a former misfit who must face her troubled childhood is dark and engrossing, thanks to Zarr's (Story of a Girl) full-bodied characters and creative storytelling. Through well-timed flashbacks, thin, popular high school senior Jenna remembers being fat Jennifer, who along with her best friend, Cameron, endures teasing in elementary school and a hard home life (her single mother is almost never home, and his abusive father traumatizes both children). After Cameron moves away, Jennifer's cruel classmates tell her he has died, and her mother corroborates the story; readers may find it hard to believe the subsequent revelation that she has, in fact, lied. But they will appreciate how honestly Jenna reveals the toll it takes on her when Cameron suddenly reappears, transferring into her senior class (she starts stealing and binge-eating again); their rekindled connection forces her to decide if "Jenna" is really who she wants to be. There is harsh material here, in the characters' presents as well as their pasts: Cameron is now an emancipated minor, and Jenna's family temporarily takes him in when he becomes homeless. Flashbacks to a horrifying episode with Cameron's father are revealed slowly and carefully, filling readers with a sense of dread, but ultimately her memories teach Jenna something surprising about her own strength. Other realistically flawed characters, from a mother who must learn truly to help her daughter to Cameron himself, round out this complex and bittersweet story of friendship and the meaning of "unfinished business." Ages 12-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(High School) As a child, Jennifer was an ostracized outcast; with her well-meaning single mother entirely occupied with nursing school, the only one who "knows everything about me...and loves me anyway" is her sweet, troubled best friend Cameron. Shortly after the two endure a terrifying encounter with Cameron's abusive father, Cameron disappears, and Jennifer, devastated by the loss of her only friend and then by what she believes is his death (he is rumored to have been killed in a freak accident), remakes herself into someone who can fit in. Eight years later, "Jenna" is conscientiously outgoing, stylish, and in a relationship she values mainly for its proof that she is "worthy of couplehood." Suddenly, Cameron reappears, and Jenna's past and present, which she'd worked so hard to compartmentalize, become inextricable. Despite hints of a love triangle and generously heaped angst, Jenna and Cameron's bond never becomes anything so simple or transient as a romance, a line Zarr treads exceedingly well. The two relate with a natural, bittersweet intimacy that tugs at the heartstrings and only increases in intensity as their problems mount. Jenna's painful reconciliation of her younger self with her current persona takes center stage as she's forced to come to terms with all her secrets and insecurities. It's a process many teens will relate to, amplified here with wistful prose and skillfully layered characters. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Zarr's debut novel, Story of a Girl (2007), drew many teen readers with its heartbreaking depiction of a girl whose identity is defined by a mistake made when she was 13. Her second novel speaks to the deep friendships that grow among young people who have suffered trauma. At age nine, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were school outcasts and each other's only friends. After Cameron's father verbally abused them and tried to force the children to engage in sexual activity with each other, Jennifer and Cameron escaped, but they never told anyone of the incident. Cameron and his family abruptly left town, and Jennifer was told that Cameron had died. Now 17, Jennifer has changed her name and her image: pretty, popular Jenna has an equally pretty and popular boyfriend and is a model of self-confidence and responsibility. Then new student Cameron arrives, and Jenna's world turns upside down. Her strong bond with Cameron is still there, and together they attempt to confront their shared past. Zarr's writing is remarkable. Through Jenna's matter-of-fact first-person narrative, she conveys great delicacy of feeling and shades of meaning, and the realistic, moving ending will inspire excellent discussion.--Carton, Debbie Copyright 2008 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Jennifer Harris was a mousy little girl, an outcast, bullied by her classmates, until she met Cameron. They became best friends--and then one day he disappeared. Convinced that he was dead, Jennifer was devastated but, over time, internalized her feelings and accepted that the boy would never come back into her life. Now in high school, Jennifer reinvents herself as Jenna and becomes popular. Things are going well until Jenna's 17th birthday when Cameron reappears and turns everything she knows upside down. She and Cameron revisit their memories and come to grips with what really happened to him years ago. Sara Zarr insightfully narrates her poignant tale (Little Brown, 2008), bringing Jenna and Camerson to life and giving all the other characters unique personas. An excellent audio version of a wonderful book.-Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
After years working to achieve popularity, Jenna tries not to think about elementary school: the lisp, the tears, the fat. When her childhood soul mate Cameron Quick miraculously reappears, Jenna's carefully cultivated persona begins to unravel. Tension builds asreaders wonder how long Jenna cankeep up appearances, what made Cameron vanish so many years ago and whether the two will consummate their love.Jenna and Cameron's preternatural bond remains at the core of this original story. Readers will find their fascinating connection at once believable and unfathomable. Intermittent flashbacks cast a murky, nightmarish hue and culminate to reveal a horrific moment that united Jenna and Cameron forever. This haunting and ultimately hopeful novel asserts what many teens feel acutely: that childhood experiences often leave indelible marks. A convincing, first-personnarrative voice makes the painful ramifications of exclusion palpable. The costs of popularity, eating disorders and abuse also find resonance. Zarr transfixes teen readers with enticing explorations of identity and enduring love. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
