Extra Credit #3: Hard Love

Wittlinger, Ellen. Hard Love. New York: Simon Pulse, 1999. Print.

Annotation:

So much anger bottled up in one confused teenager. John uses zines in order to say what he actually hasn't said before. Through zines, he recreates himself as Gio and happens upon a quirky girl that ignites a spark in him that he has never felt before.

Justification for Non- nomination:

The style of this book is like none I’ve ever come across in any of my readings. Wittlinger incorporates zines throughout the story. By doing this, the plot is given dimension by allowing for other viewpoints and smaller stories to enter the plot. Each story has a larger impact on the main character John, but the zines themselves give the reader an actual inside look at zines, what they represent, and how zines work to tell the story or provide an outlet for the authors of those zines.  

As for the relevance to YA literature, it is apparent that John/Gio is having trouble navigating through life after the divorce of his parents. The trouble he has with the relationship with both of his parents, leads him to question who he is as a person which is a significant hallmark of YA literature in the quest for finding a greater sense of self. John/Gio transcends through many of the hallmarks of young adolescence in highschool through his only friendship, a new love interest, and even the re-development of a relationship with his parents.

Though this book was stylistically appealing and very unique to me as the reader, I did not feel that it encompassed all that was needed for nomination. The character of John/Gio was going through a significantly troubling period in his life but I found his character to be flat and just angry through most of the text. The zines were a very good way to see beyond that clichéd character but it didn’t do enough to hold my interest by way of a good book. I would, however, recommend this book to readers purely for the exposure to zines and the power they hold to tell a very in depth story in a short amount of time.

Genre Catalog: Coming of Age, Realistic Novel/Edgy Fiction, Printz Award Winner.