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Love and Other Perishable Items Laura Buzo Books

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Love and Other Perishable Items Laura Buzo Books

This book is about two things: a teenage crush and becoming a "grown-up." Unfortunately, these subjects are never distant from clichés and they are often presented in a shallow, stereotypical way. In Love and Other Perishable Items, however, Buzo writes about these two universal experiences with exceptional depth and feeling.

Buzo somehow manages to weave together two disparate realms of experience: the high school feeling when you suddenly become giddily aware of the complexity of the world around you, making you feel more "adult," as evinced in Amelia, our 15 year old protagonist, and the early 20s feeling of uncertainty as you become an unequivocal adult with legitimate responsibilities, a period captured through the struggles of Chris, a college senior who serves as the second POV character in this novel. So whether you're on the younger or older side of Young Adult, there are ideas here for any reader to attach onto, ideas that will recall the reader's own personal experience. As a result, both characters, though deeply flawed, are loveable, because it is difficult not to project our own tribulations of adolescence and early adulthood upon them. To me, this personability of the characters, this ability to see ourselves in them, is one of the novel's greatest strengths.

An equally strong point is the novel's focus on social justice. I read that author Laura Buzo works as a social worker in addition to writing, and her career experience clearly shines through the novel. I was enraptured by Chris and Amelia's intelligent (but never pretentious!) discussions about the role of feminism in the 21st century, the unsatisfying conclusions to classic novels such as The Great Gatsby and Great Expectations, and the failure to recognize conditions of poverty in our own backyards. At its core, Love and Other Perishable Items is a book about romance, but it is much more smart and thoughtful than typical romantic fare yet it manages to maintain a (mostly) lighthearted tone. It's totally approachable for all readers; some will adore the love story, others will enjoy the realistic depiction of these distinctly tumultuous life stages, and others will appreciate the sociological criticism within these pages.

Of course, I loved Love and Perishable Items for all of these reasons, as I expect most readers will. Highly recommended for anyone desiring a bit of young adult nostalgia in the form of a book that is both melancholy and hopeful


Tags : Amazon.com: Love and Other Perishable Items (9780375970009): Laura Buzo: Books,Laura Buzo,Love and Other Perishable Items,Knopf Books for Young Readers,0375970002,Romance - General,Social Themes - Friendship,Friendship;Fiction.,Love;Fiction.,Maturation (Psychology);Fiction.,Australia,Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Fiction,Fiction-Romance,Friendship,JUVENILE,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Fiction Love & Romance,Juvenile Fiction Social Themes Emotions & Feelings,Juvenile Fiction Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),Juvenile Grades 10-12 Ages 15+,Love,Love & Romance,Maturation (Psychology),Monograph Series, any,Social Issues - Adolescence,Social Issues - Emotions & Feelings,TEEN'S FICTION ROMANCE,United States,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Friendship

Love and Other Perishable Items Laura Buzo Books Reviews

Love and Other Perishable Items is basically about this girl, Amelia, who starts working at this grocery store and falls into a majorly huge crush on a co-worker, Chris. Problem is Amelia is 15 and Chris is 21.

Now, I personally can't say anything against relationships that span a significant age difference. My husband is 12 years older than myself. That means he was a senior in high school when I was in first grade. He was driving unsupervised when I was 4. We met when I was barely 18 and he was just turning 30. But compared to his sister who's husband is 20 years older than her, our age difference isn't so bad either.) It's all relative. But it's true that 15 is VERY young and while the 6 year age gap between Amelia and Chris might not be a problem when she's 20 and he's 26, there's quite a gap between 15 and 21 (just as there's quite a gap between 4 and 16 or 6 and 18).

As you can imagine, things don't always go as Amelia hopes and plans. At the beginning of the book, I remember thinking that she sounded very young and immature, and still throughout the book there were moments when her age really shined through like this towering beacon.

Upon finishing Love and Other Perishable Items, I was tempted to question whether I'd just wasted the last day and a half reading this. But ultimately I settled upon no. While Love and Other Perishable Items probably won't stand out to me as an epic read that I must return to over and over, it was a nice take on coming of age, growing up, and first crushes that are easily mistaken for love.

I will note that Chris's abundance in the use of alcohol, drugs, and other general maleness was quite annoying to my 26 year old self. 15 year old me would have probably been in love with him too (as sad as that is to say).

I'm giving Love and Other Perishable Items 3.5 stars. Have you read Love and Other Perishable Items? If so, what did you think? Let me know!
This book is about two things a teenage crush and becoming a "grown-up." Unfortunately, these subjects are never distant from clichés and they are often presented in a shallow, stereotypical way. In Love and Other Perishable Items, however, Buzo writes about these two universal experiences with exceptional depth and feeling.

Buzo somehow manages to weave together two disparate realms of experience the high school feeling when you suddenly become giddily aware of the complexity of the world around you, making you feel more "adult," as evinced in Amelia, our 15 year old protagonist, and the early 20s feeling of uncertainty as you become an unequivocal adult with legitimate responsibilities, a period captured through the struggles of Chris, a college senior who serves as the second POV character in this novel. So whether you're on the younger or older side of Young Adult, there are ideas here for any reader to attach onto, ideas that will recall the reader's own personal experience. As a result, both characters, though deeply flawed, are loveable, because it is difficult not to project our own tribulations of adolescence and early adulthood upon them. To me, this personability of the characters, this ability to see ourselves in them, is one of the novel's greatest strengths.

An equally strong point is the novel's focus on social justice. I read that author Laura Buzo works as a social worker in addition to writing, and her career experience clearly shines through the novel. I was enraptured by Chris and Amelia's intelligent (but never pretentious!) discussions about the role of feminism in the 21st century, the unsatisfying conclusions to classic novels such as The Great Gatsby and Great Expectations, and the failure to recognize conditions of poverty in our own backyards. At its core, Love and Other Perishable Items is a book about romance, but it is much more smart and thoughtful than typical romantic fare yet it manages to maintain a (mostly) lighthearted tone. It's totally approachable for all readers; some will adore the love story, others will enjoy the realistic depiction of these distinctly tumultuous life stages, and others will appreciate the sociological criticism within these pages.

Of course, I loved Love and Perishable Items for all of these reasons, as I expect most readers will. Highly recommended for anyone desiring a bit of young adult nostalgia in the form of a book that is both melancholy and hopeful