Why We Broke Up written by Daniel Handler, illustrated by Maira Kalman
Little, Brown and Company, 2011 (Currently Available)
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Illustrated Fiction
Face Value: This book is truly a work of art in its own right. Maira Kalman, who has been one of my favorite contemporary artists ever since I discovered this illustrates Handler’s exquisite prose, and these images are almost as much a part of the story as the writing is. Not in a Brian Selznick kind of way – you technically could read the book & understand the story without the pictures. But the pictures elevate the book to something bigger, better, more meaningful. And that meaning shows on the cover it’s simple and gorgeous and tells its own story.
And if that beautiful cover weren’t enough for you, flip the book over. Normally I don’t pay much heed to author blurbs, as I don’t usually think a one-sentence plug from an author tells me all that much about whether I’m going to like it or not. But these blurbs are different. Rather than a series of adjectives describing the book, these authors give us a sentence that tells a story about a breakup of their own, ranging from funny to sad or both. My favorite is this one from Brian Selznick:
“I knew I had to break up with Ann Rosenberg after she chose a teal dress for the prom. I had never heard of teal. Also, I was gay.”
That could be a book in itself. I’d read it.
Does it Break the Slate? You know what? I can’t really decide. Kind of. Yes? Not really. And Min, I’m not holding it against you. I get it. Breakups are hard. And while I think this book does a great job of depiciting two high schoolers who have a sweet, believable romance. And I do believe that Min grows up through her romancing with Ed, and that she demonstrates some Slatebreaking tendencies.
The thing is though, this is a book about a relationship that wasn’t all that great, even if it seemed like it at the time. And it’s a book about a girl’s sadness about not having her boyfriend in her life anymore, which OBVIOUSLY I UNDERSTAND, and she doesn’t need to justify that to anybody. But I don’t know if that lends itself, necessarily to being a Slatebreaking story. However, there are some great moments, truly great, in which sex is treated as a normal thing for teens to want and experience. And Min’s emotional experiences are given real legitimacy and weight. The last thing I want to suggest is that by showing sadness or emotion, or that by being sad about a breakup you lose any kind of feminist credibility. Because you don’t!
So I’m not sure whether or not I think this is a Slatebreaking book. I know that I liked it, and that I’d recommend it. I’ll details some observations in the review, and when you read it, I’d really like to hear your opinions in the comments.
Who would we give it to? Anybody going through a rough first breakup who needs a good cry, anyone who connects more deeply with books if they are illustrated, and anyone who wants to read some YA that looks respectable from the packaging.
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