Sweethearts

Zarr, Sara. Sweethearts. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 2008. ISBN 9780316014557.

AWARDS:
2008 Cybil Awards Finalist
Oprah Book Club Kids Reading List
American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults
New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age Reader

SUMMARY: In elementary school Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick are friends and outcasts. The whole school refers to her as “Fattifer.” She is the daughter of a single mom who has little time for her daughter. Cameron and Jennifer suffer a terrifying ordeal which is told through Jennifer’s memories throughout the story. Cameron moves away a few weeks after this incident without saying goodbye. She learns that he is dead and grieves. Without Cameron to lean on, Jennifer reinvents herself. Her mother marries a wonderful man and he adopts Jennifer.

She is turning seventeen and her name is now Jennifer Vaughn. She is thin, popular, and has a devoted boyfriend. She has moved to a nice neighborhood and attends a private school. Her life is great until she receives a note from Cameron. He is obviously not dead, and he is back and attending her school. She lets him into her group of friends and every day he is around she relapses back to her old habits of overeating and stealing. They discuss the trauma they went through at the hands of Cameron’s father. Cameron’s return also gives her the courage to tell her mother what happened and try to salvage their relationship. Once again, Cameron leaves as suddenly as he arrived.



CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Written effectively in journal form, we get to know Jennifer’s innermost feelings. She has been through a lot in her seventeen years. We feel that she has overcome all her childhood insecurities, but has she? I enjoyed the evolution of Jennifer, as well as the relapse she experiences, when she lets Cameron back into her life. It is true in life, that certain people we allow in our lives are associated with particular behaviors. When we are around those people from our pasts, we engage in the behavior that we associate with them. I thought the book was very real from that perspective. Jennifer explains it best when she writes, “I think about how there are certain people who come into your life, and leave a mark.” For Jennifer, Cameron is that person.

I had less sympathy for Cameron's character. I didn't feel that I knew enough about his character.  Why did he disrupt her life and then leave after such a short time? Why enroll in her school and settle in her neighborhood, when he knew he was leaving so abruptly? Without knowing more about his character,  I found him to be selfish. I felt that the only good thing that came about from Cameron’s reappearance was that Jennifer was finally able to tell her mother what happened with Cameron’s father so long ago. I think that that was something that Jennifer needed to do to heal.

I found her mother to be the stereotypical single mother with too little time to do anything but support the family.  It bothered me that even when she remarried, she still seemed to know very little about her daughter.  It seemed that her step-father was more in touch with Jennifer than her mother. I liked that the step-father was a a caring and loving man.  Most step-fathers are portrayed as unloving and unhappy about parenting a child that is not their own.  I found this refreshing.

I enjoyed this book and thought its dialogue and descriptions of teenagers was very realistic.  The plot was believable, yet I never understood Cameron's motives.  The book contains some very real problems which today's teenagers can relate to.  These include:  absent parents, step-parents, peer pressure, childhood obesity, abuse, and homelessness.

The setting was in the state of Utah.  I think it was important because Jennifer, Cameron, and their families were not Mormon, which ostracized them even more.  Her school changes from public to private school between elementary and high school.  This may have been to show that she was more accepted at a private school where everyone was not Mormon.  Her private high school seems typical of almost in high school in America.

I enjoyed the book and most teenager's can relate to Jennifer's evolution from "Fattifer," to Jennifer Vaughn.

CONNECTIONS:
Students could write about some transformations they have made since being in elementary school. They could also write about one person in their lives that they completely trust and knows them completely. Students could also discuss if they think it was a good thing for Cameron to come back into Jennifer’s life or not. Students could also do art or an essay showing Jennifer’s transformation. They could discuss Life With Cameron and Life Without Cameron.

REVIEWS:

Booklist Starred Review:

"Zarr's writing is remarkable."

Publishers Weekly Starred Review:

"Engrossing."

RESOURCES:

Zarr, Sara. Sweethearts. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 2008.

Sara Zarr website.
http://www.sarazarr.com/

TeenReads website.
http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-zarr-sara.asp

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