Hard Love is definitely a valuable addition to teen contemporary realistic fiction. It's main character, John "Gio" Guzman is an average 16 year old struggling to find his own identity. His parents were divorced over 5 years ago and he's still adjusting to cope with their shattered marriage. Even though the divorce happened years ago, his mother refuses to touch him. His father leads a posh lifestyle in the city and shows no interest in his life.
Gio creates his own Zine, which is a homemade magazine of literature. He then meets Marisol, a fiery, Puerto Rican, and lesbian fellow zine writer. He falls in love but just like his relationship with his parents, it's hard love.
I won't ruin the ending for you. There is definitely more than one reason you should pick up this award winning young adult novel. Read it and let me know what you think.
This book made me look into the distant relationship I have with my own mother. We don't talk often and when we do it's painfully difficult. Because of this novel, I've started to communicate through email to stay in touch. In the novel, Marisol brought this idea up to Gio and it helped him. I find it easier since I can think critically about what I want to say. In person, I think we say too many things we don't mean. Writing means I can edit to get my point across.
Interested? Then check out this cool video I found.
