'Hard Love' by Ellen Wittlinger is a coming-of-age novel that follows John, a teenager dealing with emotional trauma from his parents' divorce. John falls in love with Marisol, a lesbian, and their friendship navigates the complexities of unrequited love and teenage romance. Through zines, poetry, and letters, the book explores themes of friendship, self-discovery, and the challenges of teenage relationships in the 1990s.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for Hard Love include themes of emotional trauma from divorce, unrequited love, and sexual identity exploration, which could be triggering for some readers.
Has Romance?
There is a medium-level presence of romance in Hard Love, characterized by John’s unrequited feelings for Marisol, who does not reciprocate due to her sexual orientation.
From The Publisher:
Since his parents' divorce, John's mother hasn't touched him, her new fiancé wants them to move away, and his father would rather be anywhere than at Friday night dinner with his son. It's no wonder John writes articles like "Interview with the Stepfather" and "Memoirs from Hell." The only release he finds is in homemade zines like the amazing Escape Velocity by Marisol, a self-proclaimed "Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee Lesbian." Haning around the Boston Tower Records for the new issue of Escape Velocity, John meets Marisol and a hard love is born.
While at first their friendship is based on zines, dysfuntional families, and dreams of escape, soon both John and Marisol begin to shed their protective shells. Unfortunately, John mistakes this growing intimacy for love, and a disastrous date to his junior prom leaves that friendship in ruins. Desperately hoping to fix things, John convinces Marisol to come with him to a zine conference on Cape Cod. On the sandy beaches by the Bluefish Wharf Inn, John realizes just how hard love can be.
With keen insight into teenage life, Ellen Wittlinger delivers a story of adolescence that is fierce and funny - and ultimately transforming - even as it explores the pain of growing up.
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About the Author:
Ellen Wittlinger is the critically acclaimed author of the teen novels Parrotfish, Blind Faith, Sandpiper, Heart on My Sleeve, Zigzag, and Hard Love (an American Library Association Michael L. Printz Honor Book and a Lambda Literary Award winner), and its sequel Love & Lies: Marisol's Story. She has a bachelor's degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and an MFA from the University of Iowa. A former children's librarian, she lives with her husband in Haydenville, Massachusetts.
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