Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

The Book Talk:






The Review:


I should probably start this review with a small disclaimer -- I love Daniel Handler (well, Lemony Snicket)'s writing.  I know that it's not everyone's cup of tea, and to some people it can seem affected and forcefully quirky, but it is exactly the kind of writing that speaks to me.  This is also my first experience reading a novel illustrated by Maira Kalman (I've read some of her picture book works), and the I believe the two creators fit together perfectly.

This is Daniel Handler's first foray into writing for teens (he's written plenty for younger kids and for adults), and I believe he was wildly successful.   Here's why:

The Characters:


Again, this is just a personal thing, but I really think that the character of Min is beautifully crafted. I really, really  identified with her.  She is kind of a quirky kid who has artsy interests but would never describe herself as "artsy", she starts dating a guy that NO ONE thinks she should match well with (but hey, she loves him, and she's going to go with it), and she's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  I sometimes have an issue with male writers who try to write accurately as females, and I really thought that Handler did a great job of creating a real, whole, female teenager.

While in a lot of ways I didn't like the character of Ed, I felt like I knew him really well and that he could be a real person.  He was very focused on sports, and he likes Min a lot, but he can't ever really explain why since they really do have very little in common -- he's the perfect balance of desirable but not necessarily likable, and Handler does an excellent job of painting him in a realistic light.

And then, the secondary characters are all equally compelling and important to the story!  I hate it when authors introduce secondary characters just for the purpose of having them around without fully forming them as human beings.  All of the people in this book were really people.  I could imagine them and imagine myself knowing people like them in high school.  So well done.


The Writing:


There is just something about Daniel Handler's writing that gets me on a very visceral level.  I just FEEL the language.  I don't really consider myself the kind of person who cares about language and well-written-ness above all else in a book, but in this one the writing really brought the story to another level.  I feel like I can't explain myself accurately without giving you an example, so here's a quote from Why We Broke Up:

"Ed, it was wonderful.  To stutter through it with you or even stop stuttering and say nothing, was so lucky and soft, better talk than mile-a-minute with anyone.  After a few minutes we'd stop rattling, we'd adjust, we'd settle in, and the conversation would speed into the night.  Sometimes it was just laughing at the comparing of favorites, I love that flavor, that color's cool, that album sucks, I've never seen that show, she's awesome, he's an idiot, you must be kidding, no way mine's better, safe and hilarious like tickling."


I love it when writers take liberties with language -- writing more for feeling than for story, but still managing to propel the story forward anyway.  The entire book is written like this, and it's just great.  There's a particular passage toward the end of the book that really got to me when Min is explaining how she sees herself that helped me really get the feeling that Daniel Handler really understands his characters, and is really an expert at creating them through language.

The Illustrations:


Why We Broke Up as a piece of written literature is, on its own, a great work.  What brings it up to yet another level is the addition of Kalman's illustrations.  Bright and unusual and realistic while keeping a sense of whimsy, they really add to the atmosphere of the writing, and the words and pictures together perfectly.  I hope Handler and Kalman continue to work together, because they really do seem to be on the same wavelength.

Basically, whether it's because of my biased opinions or not, this is definitely the best book I've read so far this year, and I can't imagine that another book is going to surpass it (I'll let you know if it happens).  Recommended for fans of John Green, lovers of unusual written language that doesn't follow the rules, teens who don't fit in, and adults who didn't when they were teens either.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

The Book Talk:






The Review:


Beauty Queens was actually a really polarizing book for me.  I absolutely adored some things about it, and there were other aspects that I really kind of hated.  Overall, I will definitely recommend it to people because the parts I loved were REALLY well done, but I think in order to accurately depict my thoughts on the book, I'm going to split this review into two parts.

Things I adored:


What I think Libba Bray does very well is characterization and stereotype subversion.  At the beginning of this book, I felt pretty meh about every character. I'm not exactly a pageant type of girl, and I was worried these characters were going to annoy me.  Needless to say, my own expectations were exactly what Libba Bray was trying to prove wrong.  Every character in this book has an interesting back story.  Not just interesting, but surprising and realistic and funny and smart.  I don't want to ruin these surprises for you as a reader, so I won't be specific -- I'll just say that all of these beauty queens could be real people who I might actually be friends with.  Libba Bray knows how to write for and about girls.

Another thing Libba Bray knows how to do is write about sexuality.  She puts her female characters in situations every teenage girl has found themselves in at one time or another.  The dude wants to have sex but there's no condom around.  The girl has a crush on her best friend but doesn't know if she likes girls.  The girl really wants to have sex but everyone around her has told her that it's wrong and immoral.  She not only puts her characters into these situations, but she has them deal with them in realistic and smart ways.  Modelling intelligent sexual decision-making is SO much more interesting and effective than not broaching the subject, so well done there Ms. Bray.


Things I abhored:


I have to say that the attempt at humor and political satire in this book DID NOT WORK.  It was just.  Too.  Over the top.  The consistent "commercial breaks" and scripted interviews with obvious Sarah Palin and George Bush spoofs were just forced and not subtle and ...unnecessary.  The heart of the story was about the characters, and when Libba Bray tried to force political commentary down my throat, I just found myself getting annoyed instead of laughing.  I'm not sure how teenage readers feel about this aspect of the book, but I'd love to hear their opinions.  In some ways, the obviousness of the humor felt degrading -- as if teens need it to be REALLY spelled out that "look here, this is some political humor!"  I think teens are smarter than that, and deserve some finessed subtlety to their humor.

I also had a similar problem with this book that I had with Going Bovine.  It is just too long.  If Ms. Bray had edited out some of the politics and made the book a more manageable size and a quicker pace, she may have had a girl power masterpiece on her hands.

So there we go -- I recommend this for older teens (esp. girls, and guys who want to know what girls are REALLY like) due to the sexuality and some drug use/drinking.  Anyone else read this and have thoughts?