Sweethearts
by Sara Zarr
by Sara Zarr
SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 2/1/08
Publisher: Little, Brown
Reviewed by: Marta Morrison
Rating: 5 Stars
I enjoyed this book. SWEETHEARTS is a character-driven novel where there isn't much action but a big emotional
journey with quite a kick.
Jennifer Harris is a social outcast. She is fat and the other girls in third grade are very mean. She eats lunch alone until the
day that she decides to make Cameron Quick her friend. After that, she and Cameron are always together, both of them
outcasts.
Then, one day Cameron disappears, and the other kids tell her that he is dead.
The book then forwards on to present day and Jennifer has recreated herself. She is pretty, popular, has a cute
boyfriend, and has changed her name to Jenna. She is a senior but she feels like she is just acting a part. It takes a lot of
energy to be the girl that she is.
Enter Cameron Quick -- who she thought was dead. He reenters her life and the past comes flooding back in big waves.
They reconnect and discover what real love is all about. I liked the fact that this relationship between Cameron and
Jennifer was real but not sexual. In fact, when she does have sex with her boyfriend she feels unconnected to him. This
love is not about sex but about experiences that will live within you for a lifetime. It rushes in and takes over.
The characters of the story were real and you truly wanted to be their friends. I especially liked Jennifer's dad. He was
someone that I wish I could talk with for hours. The book is also one that doesn't have a definitive ending. I kept thinking
up fun endings for days afterwards.
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 2/1/08
Publisher: Little, Brown
Reviewed by: Marta Morrison
Rating: 5 Stars
I enjoyed this book. SWEETHEARTS is a character-driven novel where there isn't much action but a big emotional
journey with quite a kick.
Jennifer Harris is a social outcast. She is fat and the other girls in third grade are very mean. She eats lunch alone until the
day that she decides to make Cameron Quick her friend. After that, she and Cameron are always together, both of them
outcasts.
Then, one day Cameron disappears, and the other kids tell her that he is dead.
The book then forwards on to present day and Jennifer has recreated herself. She is pretty, popular, has a cute
boyfriend, and has changed her name to Jenna. She is a senior but she feels like she is just acting a part. It takes a lot of
energy to be the girl that she is.
Enter Cameron Quick -- who she thought was dead. He reenters her life and the past comes flooding back in big waves.
They reconnect and discover what real love is all about. I liked the fact that this relationship between Cameron and
Jennifer was real but not sexual. In fact, when she does have sex with her boyfriend she feels unconnected to him. This
love is not about sex but about experiences that will live within you for a lifetime. It rushes in and takes over.
The characters of the story were real and you truly wanted to be their friends. I especially liked Jennifer's dad. He was
someone that I wish I could talk with for hours. The book is also one that doesn't have a definitive ending. I kept thinking
up fun endings for days afterwards.