2013 Hub Reading Challenge discussion

I just finished Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo. Is anyone else reading this or has read it already? I'd love to talk about it.

I finished it today also! I loved it a ton. I'm so happy to hear feminism discussed so thoughtfully in a teen novel. I also really related to the characters and their situation and thought the ending was pretty perfect. Sad, but perfect.

I read it for the Morris challenge. I really liked it. It was a great study of what makes people "right" for each other. Lots of smart discussions - and showed that smart people can make dumb choices sometimes!

Yes, Allison (#1), I really liked the feminism discussion in the book! I definitely liked the book and I agree, Alison (#2), that they both made some dumb choices. I liked that Chris wasn't perfect and he didn't pretend to be. He didn't make excuses for his dumb decisions/actions. And I really liked that he did the "right" thing in the end. I also adored Penny - especially in the last scene!

The only thing that I thought was odd in the book, was some of the language used. Not the cursing, but some of the phrases Amelia uses. And I don't think it was a case of just a difference between US and Australian slang. I wanted to see what others thought. Two things that stuck out to me were when Amelia says "willikers!" and "hip to their jive." I tried to tell myself that it was just Amelia's sense of humor to use those phrases, that she wasn't using them seriously, but it still seemed a little odd to me and it took me out of the story for a minute. Am I the only one?

I did really like this book, but I did have some concerns about the character of Chris and his treatment of Amelia. I know that his actions are sort of explained, but I think Amelia's acceptance of his terrible behavior sort of undercuts the feminist message. I mean, Chris constantly humiliates her in public- over the loudspeaker at work, at the party, and so on. It didn't always sit right with me.

But, even with that reservation, I felt the characters were believable and I really believed that Amelia was 15, which I think is really hard to do. She was longing to be older, but totally freaked out when she was placed in situations that she wasn't ready for. I loved her awakening to new ideas and seeing these ideas play out in her life.

Brooke wrote: "I did really like this book, but I did have some concerns about the character of Chris and his treatment of Amelia. I know that his actions are sort of explained, but I think Amelia's acceptance of..."

I can understand where you're coming from Brooke. It definitely bothered me when Amelia said "I'd have sex with you!" when she was trying to convince him they could be together, but I think that's another example of smart people making not-so-great decisions. He wasn't a perfect guy, even though he seemed like it to her at the time, regardless of what he did or how he treated her. I've definitely looked back on some crushes and wondered what I was thinking.

This was my favorite book read last year. I absolutely loved it and found the characters so easy to relate to. I hope Buzo's other books get US publications.