Wittlinger, Ellen. Hard Love. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Annotation: After his parent's divorce, John has no feelings left; his mother refuses to touch him or look at him, his dad is busy conquering women to even notice him. Believing he is incapable of emotions, he finds the strongest emotion: love. Although it is a hard and very unlikely love, John falls for someone who may not have the same feelings and could easily break his heart, but he is finally able to feel -- something.
Justification for Nomination: Wittlinger's portrayal of an adolescent boy looking to find himself, is exact. It seems that every young person goes through this type of heartache and self discovery. He does a lot of writing, and eventually writes his feelings in a "zine" a homemade magazine and starts to find friends, other than Brian. The style of this novel is very interesting. There are many poems and song lyrics throughout, and most of them are hand written, making you feel that the characters actually had written the page, which is something I haven't seen in other novels. At the beginning of each chapter the text is slanted, and easily grabs your attention. I think it also shows that the narrator's continued perspective of uncertainty and confusion in his journey of self discovery and search for feelings. The journey the main character goes through is so important, because it describes all the emotions that most teens go through: the feelings they have toward their parents and the needs to be self sufficient, the importance of friendship and finding love, either platonic or romantic both are important in life. And love is always the hardest emotion no matter what age you are.
I recommend this book because love is hard and this book shows how important love is and that everyone needs it, even though it can easily destroy you, in seconds; it's worth every second.
Genre Category: Coming of Age, Romance
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