Cat and Noah were passengers on a cruise to the Galapagos Islands. Noah is suffereing from his parents being divorced, while Cat has been babied by her parents. I thought that this was an exciting book and amusing to the reader. Good adventure type mystery with good color illustrations. I would recommend it to students fromt the 5th grade through the 7th grade.

Wow, Ellen Wittlinger is a fantastic writer and I absolutely LOVED this book. The Romance between Cat and Noah was so cute. They were so different but yet so alike. I was sad for 2 days after I finished this book, just because it was over!

I read this book at the library about a year ago, and I loved it! Then I returned it, and I forgot the name. Its a really good book, with some romance but not too much, and it has some adventure in it too.

This is the best Ellen Wittlinger book I have ever read - high praise for a wonderful author with other amazing books.

Fifteen year old Kenyon is resentful that his parents bought a group of vacation cabins in Cape Cod and moved him there without asking so they could enjoy a peaceful retirement in picture perfect settings. He's been enlisted to fix up the dilapidated buildings when he'd rather be taking endless rolls of film and exploring the different angles and facets of photography.

As the summer progresses, he develops a friendship with Razzle Penney - weirdo extraordinaire, but great person and wonderfully crafted character. A relationship with sexy but shallow Harley threatens to ruin everything he has with Razzle and others in the small town.

You won't want to put this book down. The characters are some of the most vivid I have ever read about. I wanted it to keep going forever.

An extra credit reading assignment for my freshman English H class brought me to this book that is currently up for some award and our teacher wants us to read all the books and vote for our favorite at the end of the year....
and i definitely got sand in my shoes!! This book was great! a little predictable... I mean Frank was her dad right?.... guess u got to read it! I guess it wasn't totally predictable but it was an interesting book about th every weird relationship between Kenyon and Razzle.. Razzle is a kid w/ a screwed up family but she still manages to be reallly creatinve (definitely not a perwin!) Good book Id reccomend it... 2nd or 3rd favorite of the books ive read so far in the book club

When young photographer Kenyon Baker moves to Cape Cod with his predjudiced, elderly parents he expects to face a summer of boredom fixing up the resort his parents bought. But when he meets eccetric, crazy Razzle at the town dump he begins to love his new town and Razzles oddness.But when sexy, beautiful Harley, Razzle's sworn enemy takes an interest in Kenyon it threatens to ruin his friendship with Razzle, and when Razzle's mother comes into town and tells more than anyone wanted to know about Razzle's past evryone is forced to realize diffricult things.
The best thing about this book are the funky,original characters.It is one of the best books I have ever read.

I thought this book was very good. It is mainly about a girl social life wasn't very good for about a year until neighbors move in across the road where the girl named Justine met a boy in 8th grade named Mike and a girl in her grade of 9th named Heather. Justine and Heather don't really get along at all but Heather's little brother Mike and Justine get along like a couple. As the book goes on the story get more weird. As the story went on Mike and Justine start to make a movie about a girl and talking computer. When Mike and Justine are making the movie they start to get in like a relationship. Well that is all i can say about the book to not give the rest away.

Justine Trainor has no idea in the beginning that Mike will be her friend instead of his dip sister, Heather. Mike acts like a good friend and in the end, Justine finds out what a great friend he really is. The story is cute and funny at the same time. I would like a sequel to this book.

I love this book i read it when i was in grade 7. Justine is a 15 year old girl who just wants to be a "normal" teenager she meets Heather and her annoying brother Mike. she starts hanging around Heather and loves the attention she gets hanging around Heather. she finds out Heather is just a snoty teenager and likes to hang out with Mike more they have a lot in common and have fun together.they soon find out they are attracted to each other.its a story about how age does not matter and to look at the person from the inside and not care what others might say.....i think every girl should read it to find out how love could be....

What's in a Name is an intriguing tale about high school 'identities' told from the point of view of ten different high school students. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever asked him or herself the question, 'Who am I?' It is an easy story to relate to because in the book there are characters such as 'the jock', 'the new kid', and 'the snob'. Not only is this story easy to relate to but it is also an interesting read! This story is about an election in town, in which the citizens are trying to decide whether to change the town name. The election turns friends into enemies and also makes people wonder if by changing the name they would also be changing the identity. It reminds the students of their own identities. I enjoyed the book very much because all through out the story suspense is built as you try to find out, 'What is O'Neill's secret.' Or 'Who is Adam really?' As you can see, I took pleasure in reading this book, What's in a Name. I believe it is an entertaining, suspenseful, and intriguing novel. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good read!

This book really potraits the different sides and things that teenagers go trough. I got this book from a friend of mine and I totally fell in love with this book. As a teenager, it is a very great book to read and see other people like you with their own little problems.

I read the bulk of What's In a Name? in one sitting. The story is actually 8 chapters - 1 narrator per chapter - and set in a small town which is debating over changing its name. Each story has a character exploring his or her identity and the meaning of their popularity, sexuality, long term boyfriends/girlfriends, family, friends, school, future and so forth.

It was a very quick and enjoyable read. I enjoyed Ellen's writing style. The teens were thoughtful, not vacant; they spoke like kids but also didn't say "like" or curse every other line. I only wish there had been one final wrap-up chapter to catch us up one last time with all of the characters we had met. However, I like the book as a hold and recommended to friends who liked small town coming-of-age novels.

Looking for a smart, sensitive portrayal of teenagers growing up in the late nineties? Hard Love is the book for you. Jaded junior high and high school students, young college students and parents alike will be amazed at Wittlinger's perceptive, hard-hitting, complex young adult novel.

As a graduate student, I expected to feel mildly engaged with Hard Love; but to my surprise, I became deeply involved with this work. The first-person narrative of the main character, a high school junior named John, held my attention from the somewhat inauspicious beginning.

John is a young man who doesn't know if he's straight, gay, angry, happy, bored, or abandoned. His mother hasn't touched him at all since his father walked out on them years before, and his father is a wealthy playboy who gives John freedom--freedom to be ignored, freedom to turn into a block of ice.

At first, John infuriated me. I wanted him to talk, to stop whining, to tell his parents what was really going on. He comes across as a loner, a loser of a kid who's intelligent enough but keeps the world at a huge distance.

Luckily, John's world is blown open when he meets Marisol, who produces her own 'zine and calls herself a "Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee lesbian."

I delighted in watching Wittlinger develop John's character from this point on as he discovers worlds of creativity, love, and strength. John's young, raw voice becomes a focal point for the labyrinth of teenage emotional life.

By the conclusion, my emotions were so completely bound up with John's that I cried with both pain and joy at the resolutions--and non-resolutions--of the novel.

The teenagers in Hard Love are complex. Alienated, motivated, creative, needy, dependent, raw, and discovering their place in a human community, they write 'zines, create music, run away from problems, face parental failings, and in general deal with the painful world in various original and authentic ways.

In creating John and Marisol, Wittlinger combines skill, knowledge, and sensitivity. Added bonuses are references to Ani DiFranco and Bob Franke, plus great tips on the world of 'zines and lyrical descriptions of the Boston and Cape Cod areas.

This 26-year-old found Hard Love an emotionally and intellectually satisfying, even fulfilling read. I'd suggest you buy it now!

Before I read this book I was told how terrific it was by fellow librarians, that is all fine and good but it seems often when we love a title the audience it was truly meant for does not feel the same. I don't think that will be the case with Wittlinger's stunning coming of age story about a very confused teenager trying to define himself and those around him. John (or Giovanni as he calls himself) both reads and writes Zines (homemade magazines) hoping to find some of the answers he is searching, for he even strikes up a friendship with fellow zine writer Marisol. Through their platonic relationship both are able to discover some painful truths about themselves. On this road to self discovery John unwittingly finds himself falling in love though Marisol has been up front about her homsexuality from the beginning. On top of this John has a completely affectionless relationship with both his parents, since they divorced six years ago and finds his only school friend "Brian" a cheery annoyance. This is a book with three dimensional characters that could be your neighbor your friends or even you. Which is the reason I beleive middle schoolers and high schoolers alike, may just agree with myself and all those other librarians who are raving about this title.

Hi, I'm Alison...I read this book in a day. Hard Love is about a student in high school, a junior, and his name is John. His parents were divorced when he was ten and it made him grow cold. Ever since then his own mother hasn't even touched him. He doesn't fit in the in crowd at school ( like me ha ) and since it got hard to deal with, he started writing zines.
While waiting in Tower Records in Boston while visiting his father one day, he picks up another zine written by this girl named Marisol. He finally meets this girl, and even though they only see one another on the weekends, they become best friends. You would think they hook up right then and there but no. She is indeed a lesbian, and does not lie. Does she turn straight for him? Read the book.
But he still asks her to the prom ( just as friends he says ) but John makes a couple of wrong moves and she gets extremely mad. It leaves there friendship in shambles. But then he talks her into going to a zine convention and then and there on the beach he starts to understand the meaning of Hard Love.
This book wrapped me with emotions I had been avoiding. It is very hard to admit when you feel alone. It is even more hard to admit when you fall in love with someone and you know it cant ever happen. I've been there. I'm there now. It's very tough on the heart, makes me feel all clamy. It has harsh language and things that would be better for teens ( like me ). THis book went by like a gush of wind through the air. I was amazed at how well this was written and well this women captured the very thought of a teenager. Thats not an easy task. When I read this I was forced to answer my emotions and I think it can open many peoples eyes. I wish adults would read it as well, cause then they could see what we go through day to day. They think we have it easy, HAHAHAHAHA thats real funny. Nope, not even close.
I recommend to anyone with good sence to read this book, it is very well written, and is about something real.
:)p.s im not 12 I had to put that cause I cant use the adult form. Im really barely 13,,,about two months....So I do know how it goes

I am a bit disconcerted that this book would be recommended for students ages 9 -12 and grades 4 and up. This is not a book I would want to have available for my elementary child to pick up and read. The content of the book is most definitely middle school material. The language used is middle school, the social situations are middle school, the characters' personalities and their outlook on life are middle school. So,then, how in the world could any reader who has NOT been in the middle school relate to this book?
The plot was predictable and the ending was tied up a bit to easily. The character development was the strongest aspect of the book, but I also feel the change in the characters was forced and
all too easily evolved.
I would recommend this book to middle school students, but most definitely not to elementary age readers.

Bess Cunningham is a rising sixth grader who wants to be noticed in middle school and, she tries clothes and being a stage director, but it is her work with a homeless shelter that gets her noticed. The story deals with friend dynamics, family dynamics, school relationships, personal interests and how they all weave together to form an individual. Bess encounters many of the dilemma's common to middle schoolers from seeing a friend start dating to working with her brother. In the end, Bess must deal with the death of a homeless lady that she befriended.

The book is engaging from start to finish.

Bess is preparing to go to middle school and she wants to be popular. In her effort to be "popular" she tries wearing outragous clothes and particpating in the school play. Bess's parents are very involved in volunteering at a homeless shelter. At first she resists assisting her parents, but eventually becomes more involved and committed to procurring a building for homeless women. Bess also befriends a homeless woman and learns to empathize with her plight. In the end Bess does get noticed; however, now popularity is not her primary goal. This book is realistic and does an excellent job of protraying adolescents.

Gracie's Girl was a fast reading book that should appeal to adolescents. It also shows that pre-teens and teens CAN make a difference and help others.

Some have compared this book to Robert Cormier's "Tenderness" and there are some similarities: teenaged boy who is not quite right in the head kidnaps teenaged girl with homicide in mind, but spares her, and in their time together they develop an affinity for each other. However, there is a crucial difference: "Tenderness" is good. "The Long Night of Leo and Bree" is not.

I really found the ending unbelieveable. Sometimes kidnap victims do end up falling for their captors. But Leo and Bree just didn't quite make the mark. In "Tenderness" it easy to see how Lori could fall for Eric in spite of who he is, because Lori is incredibly screwed up. Bree isn't. The book did not do an adequate job of explaining how a level-headed if slightly spoiled girl could lose her head that badly.

In addition, both characters tasted of corrugated cardboard -- not quite two-dimensional but not well-rounded either. There are girls from wealthy overbearing families, and there are boys who drop out of school to care for their moms, but there's got to be more to the picture than that. Leo and Bree both felt sort of cookie cutter.

It was a good idea but something went badly wrong in the making. I was very disappointed in this book; I recommend "Hard Love" by the same author instead of this novel.

On the one year anniversary of his sister's brutal murder, Leo finds himself going slightly mad, along with his mother, who has never been the same since. Rather than stay in the house with his mom, Leo goes out driving and when he spots Bree, a rich kid who decided to take a walk on the wrong side of town, he wonders why she lived and his sister didn't. In a fit of insanity, Leo takes Bree hostage and plans to kill her, but when he and Bree begin to talk, he finds his saving grace.

Ellen Wittlinger, author of Razzle and Hard Love, tackles a tough subject with this book and pulls it off quite well. The story itself is very short - just over 100 pages long. Almost the entire book is dialogue, and it takes place in only a couple settings. It's a quick read, but rather grim material. If you're looking for a happy ending, don't read this one! I enjoyed reading The Long Night of Leo and Bree, and my only complaint is I would have liked it to be longer - I'd love to find out what happened afterwards!

Imagine your sister being brutally murdered by her boyfriend and everything changing so fast, you didn't even have the chance to blink. That's what happened for Leo. It's the fourth anniversary of her death and he can't get the images of her being stabbed out of his head. Especially with his mother in a rage and showing him the pictures over and over. So he flees into his car and drives until he sees Bree, in her short skirt, high heels, and ruby red lipstick. In a rage, Leo kidnaps Bree, persistent that she should have been the one to die, not his beautiful and perfect sister. . What happens the following night changes the way both Bree and Leo look at things. I loved the emotion in this book because it felt so real. One thing, I didn't understand was why Bree didn't report Leo when he kidnapped her. For all she knew, he could of done these type of things to everyone. Other than that, this book was great.