Heart on My Sleeve - Softcover

Wittlinger, Ellen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689849990 ISBN 13: 9780689849992

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006

Synopsis

"I'm not picking Cartwright just because I met Julian there. For all I know he'll change his mind and not even go! Although that would be a shame because I want him to be the father of my firstborn child. KIDDING! :-}"

While on a college visit, Chloe meets Julian, another prospective freshman, and infatuated, the two high school seniors begin a long-distance relationship. Chloe is thrilled that she'll have a boyfriend at college, although she doesn't know how to break the news to Eli, her best friend whom she's sort of dating.
As Chloe and Julian prepare to meet again, they must face the question of whether their relationship is based on who they really are or who they imagine each other to be.

About this title

Review

Ellen Wittlinger, author of the Printz Honor Book Hard Love, mines the turbulence of young adulthood in this modern-day epistolary novel (think smiley-face emoticons and IMs) that examines the weird summer between high school and college. The story begins when 18-year-old, Boston-born, singer-songwriter Chloe visits a college in Connecticut as a prospective student and meets the dreamy singer-actor Julian from Florida. Both primed to say good-bye to high school and hello to the rest of their lives, the two share an intense, somewhat smooch-filled weekend that blossoms into an online romance. Inconveniently, Chloe already has a boyfriend. And both of them have prom, graduation, and summer jobs to contend with. A bouquet of ill-timed roses exposes Chloe’s secret tryst and wrecks prom, but the revelations don’t stop here. Chloe’s sister Genevieve comes out as a lesbian via e-mail and Julian’s sister e-announces her Las Vegas wedding to a man no one has met. The reaction of Chloe’s parents to Gen’s coming out is both comical and wince-inducing. (If she grew her hair long again would her heterosexuality be saved?) But, with the help of a few instructional books, everyone comes around in the end.

While typical teen confusion runs rampant, Wittlinger’s characters are intelligent and considerate--always following honest outbursts with heartfelt apologies. Despite the large cast of characters shooting off e-mails, IMs, letters, and postcards--all depicted with distinct fonts or handwriting--the novel manages to be cohesive and effectively multi-layered. Cleverly, Chloe’s subject heads are lines from songs by Dar Williams, Greg Brown, John Prine, the Indigo Girls, and more, and a "playlist" is included in the back. (Ages 13 and older) --Karin Snelson

About the Author

Ellen Wittlinger is the critically acclaimed author of the teen novels Parrotfish, Blind Faith, Sandpiper, Heart on My Sleeve, Zigzag, and Hard Love (an American Library Association Michael L. Printz Honor Book and a Lambda Literary Award winner), and its sequel Love & Lies: Marisol’s Story. She has a bachelor’s degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and an MFA from the University of Iowa. A former children’s librarian, she lives with her husband in Haydenville, Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0689849990
• ISBN 13: 9780689849992
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 219