Book Review: Why We Broke Up (Realistic Fiction)

Bibliography

Handler, Daniel, and Maira Kalman. Why We Broke Up. New York: Little, Brown, 2011. Ebook.

Summary

With a huge thunk, Min Green, who is described as “not-arty, but different,” delivers a box to basketball star Ed Slaterton’s house. Min has filled the box with artifacts from their relationship. Along with the box, Min chronicles how each object factored in to her growing love for Ed, and why they broke up.

Critical Analysis

Why We Broke Up delivers the story of high school student Min Green as she experiences her first true love. Ed is every girls dream boyfriend, he is popular and the co-captain of the basketball team, whereas Min relates life to old movies and dreams of being a movie director. Ed and Min are very different characters, but each one exposes the other to other sides of high school life. The theme of first love, and first true heartbreak, will resonate with the young adult audience because of the realistic nature of the story. Handler writes the story almost like a diary, with Min’s thoughts and feelings expressed through how each object in the box factored in to their relationship. Kalman’s artwork ties in the objects of the box to the story and adds to the delivery and suspense of why Min and Ed broke up.

Strengths and Weaknesses

One of the strengths of Why We Broke Up is the realistic nature of the story. Most girls in high school dream of being the girlfriend of one of the most popular boys in school. This becomes a reality for Min when she starts to date Ed, who even though the reader hates him for what he does to Min, he is actually a very likable character. One other strength of the novel is how the story unfolds. Due to the title of the book, the reader knows what is going to happen, but through the story and the artwork, the reader is taken through a journey of first love, and heartbreak. One of the weaknesses of the book is that Min is a very unique person, but at times it is hard for the reader to relate to her character. For example, she correlates her life experiences with scenes from old movies and is the “arty” type, even though she doesn’t see herself that way.