Hard Love (novel)

Hard Love Hard Love is an award winning book written by author Ellen Wittlinger. It was published in 1999.

Summary John, untouchable since his parents divorce six years ago, and Marisol, who's recently come out as a lesbian, meet through their interests in writing zines, personal homemade magazines into which they pour their life stories.

Main Charecters

John John is a 16 year old boy, immune to emotion, whose parents had a divorce 6 years ago. Quiet, reserved and intellectual, John is different from most of the boys in his high school due to the fact that he isn't attracted to girls yet. His best friends name is Brian, who is very different from him. In his spare time, John likes to write zines and write about his parents divorce and all the stuff happening in his life.

Marisol Marisol is a lesbian who has accepted herself for what she is. She is short and wears what would be describes as gothic attire (black nailpolish, black clothes) etc. She is a reserved person and doesn't like people to get too close to her. She writes 'Escape Velocity', a zine which John likes very much and which leads to a meeting between them. A surprising friendship develops between her and John.

Brian Brian is Johns best friend, however they are both very different. Brian is already into girls and is ackward around them. He ends up dating Violet Neville, who he had been trying to get the nerve to date for 6 years.

Critical Acclaim

The following awards were won by Hard Love

Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book, 1999 School Library Journal Best Book of 1999 Booklist Editor's Choice, 1999 School Library Journal Starred Review, 2000 Booklist Starred Review, 2000 Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up Award for Young Adult Novels, 2000 Lambda Literary Award, 2000 Printz Award Honor Book, 2000 A YALSA Quick Pick for Young Adults, 2000 A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, 2000 New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list, 2000 and 2001 International Reading Association Young Adult Choice, 2001 Nominated: Eliot Rosewater (Indiana) High School Book Award, 2001 Nominated: Rhode Island Teen Book Award, 2001 Nominated: Missouri Gateway Reader's Choice Award, 2001 Nominated: Maryland Library Association Black-Eyed Susan Award, 2001-02 Pennsylvania School Librarian’s Association list, 2001-02 A YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults, 2002 Finalist: Evergreen (Washington) Young Adult Book Award, 2002 Nominated: Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award, 2003-04 YALSA's 100 Best of the Best for the 21st Century, 1994-2003

REVIEWS

"The awkwardness of awakening sexuality, a growing preoccupation with identity and crossing the line from friendship to more are themes here with which teens will readily identify." --Publisher's Weekly

"Hard Love is a touching and real story of a group of outsiders trying to make the human connections they need to survive and thrive. It is a novel of discovery, and one of those discoveries is that love is unavoidable, even when you love the wrong person. And even when you love the wrong person, the knowledge that you can love anyone at all still makes you feel very much alive." --Author Nancy Matson

"Every so often you'll come across a YA novel that will make you glad you get to review this genre....HARD LOVE is that kind of book." --Jordan Baker, Teenreads.com

"Too much of the fiction aimed at teens is trite and unimaginative or melodramatic. Hard Love is none of these. Instead, Ellen Wittlinger treats us to a story of unrequited love in which the characters are three-dimensional." --SNN Student Magazine

TRIVIA HARD LOVE was a song before it was a book title. Its lyrics were written by Bob Franke.