Cheap Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Book) (Bruce Hart, Carole Hart) Price

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Customer Reviews of Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

Soulmates who are strangers--But not for long!
I read this book the first time about 15 or so years ago when I was a prepubescent teen, and only just "rediscovered" it when seeking out books and movies after developing a nostalgic hankering for those carefree bygone adolescent days. Although I remembered nothing about this book, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it still held up surprisingly well for me, though I found it's underlying theme of how soulmates end up together in the end endearing but all-too-uncommon--probably cause I've seen too much of life and have become cynical as a result. On to the story--It's about two high-school teens who don't even know of each others' existence: Julie Stillwell of New Jersey and Sean Manning of New York. Julie is a sensitive, introspective and creative girl who is given the distinguished and unprecedented honor of being the first junior to direct her school play. To her surprise, she falls for the first time with Roy Buckley, the quirky lead actor who becomes Julie's first lover and genuinely loves her but unfortunately has a roving eye. Sean is a sensitive and introspective senior and star athlete who's had other girls but falls hard for the unattainable Sarah Beth Cavanaugh, a dazzling rich girl who romances Sean on the side while her steady is away at college. These are two young people experiencing their first great loves but since they have fallen for individuals who are decent but "wrong" for them, inevitable heartbreak result and they feel they will never get over the pain, loss and ever experience intense love again. But unbeknownst to them, this agonizing ending is only the start of a bright new beginning . . . This book is directed toward the adolescent audience; however, like all their other books I've read, in addressing the feelings, situations and difficulties of being a teenager, the Harts' take a very perceptive, intelligent, grown-up and uncondescending approach--probably why adults like me still find it appealing and highly readable (unlike the silly and vacuous Sweet Valley High series which I definitely will not be seeking out--no offense!). Doesn't gloss over, sensationalize or cheapen the aspects of teen sex, but approaches it in a thoughtful, unexploitative and nonjudgemental manner. A thoroughly good read with a lot of substance and soul, and in my opinion just as good as the Harts' much more famous "Sooner or Later," though this one remains my favorite of their books with its highly effective parallel story technique (that is, each chapter swings back and forth between Julie and Sean in simultaneous time) and tender realism.