Thursday, March 8, 2012

"Why We Broke Up" By Daniel Handler


You may recognize the name Daniel Handler, as he is also known as Lemony Snicket, famous for his Series of Unfortunate Events. In this new teen novel, Min and Ed get involved in a brief and intimate relationship, which ends in heartache for Min. They are both high school students, and crossing the boundaries of stereotypes of their high school social groups. Min is an artsy student, an old film fanatic and an obsessive coffee drinker. Ed is a co-captain of the basketball team, and spends his leisure time at bonfires and parties with the popular crowd. Fed up with Ed, Min gathers all mementos of their relationship, throws them in a box, and dumps it off on Ed's doorstep.


This book illustrates "Why We Broke Up" by going through each of these items (bottle caps, ticket stubs, protractor, ugly earrings, etc) and elaborating on the circumstances of how it was required. Their relationship is a bit stormy, as they assure their friends that it is true love. Min struggles to understand basketball, and Ed doesn't know anything about cinema. Maybe opposites do attract?




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