Helpful Score: 12
A delicious read. A touching, and compelling story told through the eyes of Evelyn Bucknow, starting at the age of 10. It shows that unquestioning love a kid has for their parent, and then the day a child realizes that parent is human, and in this case, a disappointment.
Helpful Score: 9
Though there are several anachronisms in the early eighties section, this is a decent, quick read. The foreshadowing is a bit heavy-handed and the protagonist is sort of humorless (despite the reader being told otherwise), this book is worth a look when you have nothing better to do.
Helpful Score: 8
An engrossing novel. I enjoyed this immensely, but was sorely disappointed by the ending. It just sort of - ends. No resolutions or answers.
Helpful Score: 6
I flew through this book. I really enjoyed it and it was engrossing. The main character is 10 in 1982, just as I was, and the author hit the nail on the head about growing up in that time period. I was amazed at the little things I forgot about that were oh-so-true back then! I related to the character, even though my circumstances were different. I didn't find this book depressing at all -- it is a bit predictable -- but the symbolism in it really stands out. I would recommend this one to a friend. :)
Helpful Score: 5
Evelyn Bucknow is the main character who is a young teenage girl. This book shows us her way through her adolescence. This is a wonderful story that anyone can read. Don't think because it's centered around an adolescent that adults shouldn't read it. It's a terrific book!
Helpful Score: 3
This is one of those novels you don't want to end.
Helpful Score: 3
This is the story of a young Kansas girl who lives in the middle of nowhere, but also in the center of the United States (hence the title) in the Reagan years. She and her single, immature mother live in poverty, and their situation only gets worse as the book progresses. In spite of these grim details, this is an uplifting coming of age tale, with a smart and unforgettable heroine, Evelyn, telling her story. One of the best books I ever read.
Helpful Score: 3
one of the best books I've read in a while. very easy to get into. didn't want it to end
Helpful Score: 2
I haven't enjoyed a book as much as this in a long time. A smart budding teenager surviving & struggling along with her strong loving but unconventional mother. Despite all odds they fight on each day. You find yourself cheering and crying and laughing along with Moriarty's beautiful writing. A winner- don't pass this one by.
Helpful Score: 2
Another "coming of age" novel but this is one of the more memorable ones. i really liked the main character and felt a lot of sympathy for her being stuck with the family she was, although as you read they do have redeeming qualities, like most people in the world I guess.
Helpful Score: 1
Disappointed by this book. It seemed anticlimactic and didn't go anywhere in the end. It was an easy read though, so I gave it 2 stars.
Helpful Score: 1
A great first novel and coming-of-age story. Set in Kansas during the 1980's.
Helpful Score: 1
Srong characters in this book. Evelyn goes through big changes as she deals with her mothers irresponsible ways.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a surprise for me, as I liked it very much even though it was told from a child's point of view, is about several touchy subjects and could have been a real drag you down book. Like the Glass Castle, this book is about a child who is the parent to a parent instead of the other way around. Yet, how the unmarried mother truly cares for her handicapped child and her own mother even though her father has made it clear he is insulted by her very presense is remarkable. Both tell stories of tragic childhoods where the heroines should have drowned in depression, but triumphed. I was left wondering what made the character's mother so afraid of her father--it hints at molestation.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is a delight. The characters stay with you long after you have finished reading it.
Helpful Score: 1
In The Center of Everything, Laura Moriarty's stunning debut novel, a young girl tries to make sense of the unruly world around her. Ten-year-old Evelyn Brucknow has never really had much of a childhood, having been forced to pretty much take care of herself for most of her life. She lives with her single mother, Tina, in a small apartment in Kansas and just can't help dreaming of more for herself.
Though she is warm and loving, and values her daughter more than anything else in the world, Tina is nevertheless young, immature, and prone to making rash financial decisions. This personality type often leaves Evelyn feeling as if she is the rational adult in their troubled relationship. Growing up with a chronically out of work mother, whose most recent romance with her married boss has failed and left her jobless and desperate, Evelyn feels more and more anxious about their increasingly precarious financial situation. She resolves to distance herself from her mother's irresponsibility as much as she can.
However, Evelyn just can not escape the claustrophobic feeling of being stuck where she is - somewhere in the middle of Kansas - between her best friends, and in the midst of her mother's love...right in the center of everything. The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty is an extraordinary and affecting portrayal of a troubled mother/daughter relationship, as well as an eye-opening look at life in a small midwestern town. All this is experienced and seen through the eyes of a teenage girl; who also must come to terms with the heartbreaking lesson of first love - that not all loves are meant to be - and determine who she is and who she wants to be.
I absolutely loved this book and found myself completely immersed in the story right away. This book held my attention from beginning to end, and was one of those books that I never wanted to end. Although the plot wasn't all that action-packed - it was basically about living life in a small town, and the various trials and tribulations faced by the struggling residents - it still moved along at a leisurely pace and was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me. I give this book a definite A+!
I think that Ms. Moriarty is a terrific writer and I am eagerly awaiting her next book - what ever it might be.
Though she is warm and loving, and values her daughter more than anything else in the world, Tina is nevertheless young, immature, and prone to making rash financial decisions. This personality type often leaves Evelyn feeling as if she is the rational adult in their troubled relationship. Growing up with a chronically out of work mother, whose most recent romance with her married boss has failed and left her jobless and desperate, Evelyn feels more and more anxious about their increasingly precarious financial situation. She resolves to distance herself from her mother's irresponsibility as much as she can.
However, Evelyn just can not escape the claustrophobic feeling of being stuck where she is - somewhere in the middle of Kansas - between her best friends, and in the midst of her mother's love...right in the center of everything. The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty is an extraordinary and affecting portrayal of a troubled mother/daughter relationship, as well as an eye-opening look at life in a small midwestern town. All this is experienced and seen through the eyes of a teenage girl; who also must come to terms with the heartbreaking lesson of first love - that not all loves are meant to be - and determine who she is and who she wants to be.
I absolutely loved this book and found myself completely immersed in the story right away. This book held my attention from beginning to end, and was one of those books that I never wanted to end. Although the plot wasn't all that action-packed - it was basically about living life in a small town, and the various trials and tribulations faced by the struggling residents - it still moved along at a leisurely pace and was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me. I give this book a definite A+!
I think that Ms. Moriarty is a terrific writer and I am eagerly awaiting her next book - what ever it might be.
Laura Moriarty's books focus on a life dilemma that any one of us could face. This is a quick read that is both thought provoking and beautiful.
Well written , told well from the kids view. The ending was a bit abrupt, actually very abrupt. Points are well made without judgement and preaching.It is a very balanced book, my only complaint is too short and too much of a hanging ending.
I enjoyed reading it from cover to cover. I hated to read those last pages knowing that the book was coming to the end.
Very good story, about a young girl and her mom and the teen years with all its troubles
Evelyn Bucknow, 10 years old, living with a single mother in kansas. Life is hard and full of bad luck, bad decisions, precarious at best.
We follow Evelyn through her rocky adolesence, fueled by politics, food stamps, right wing religion, the birth of a severly handicapped
brother, and an unrequited love, and emerge on the other side much wiser and more forgiving. Sometimes what seems to be clearly right, is not, and we see that everyone has their own reasons for the choices they make. An inspiring coming of age story that goes right to the center of teen age angst, then comes out the other side with a firmly established sense of self. Who cannot remember how difficult this time in life is? An intelligent young girl growing up under very difficult circumstances learns to make the right choices for herself.
We follow Evelyn through her rocky adolesence, fueled by politics, food stamps, right wing religion, the birth of a severly handicapped
brother, and an unrequited love, and emerge on the other side much wiser and more forgiving. Sometimes what seems to be clearly right, is not, and we see that everyone has their own reasons for the choices they make. An inspiring coming of age story that goes right to the center of teen age angst, then comes out the other side with a firmly established sense of self. Who cannot remember how difficult this time in life is? An intelligent young girl growing up under very difficult circumstances learns to make the right choices for herself.
Enjoyed it quite a bit.
I enjoyed this book, but I sort of expected more from the ending. I guess that's where the readers imagination kicks in.
THIS WAS A GREAT BOOK FROM START TO FINISH.I REALLY ENJOYED READING IT.
A great book - reads like a diary in some ways, but has Forrest Gump-like quality in how the story is told. I found myself rooting for the protagonist and hoping she would find her way through her story.
I enjoyed this one. It was a quick read and would be good for someone around high-school age.
A very satisfying novel set in Kansas in the 80s.
I enjoyed this book, but it was nothing earthshattering. Having lived through the period in the book as a child a bit older than the protagonist, I found some minute plot details and vernacular in the dialogue to be a bit anachronistic--a policeman handing out bottled water in the late 1970s, for example.
Well...I enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator was great. I'm not sure if I had tried to read it that I would have finished it. It just sort of plodded along, going nowhere, but then again, I am not a person that delves deeply into the hidden meaning of things. I will say that when the tape ended, to me, it seemed liked she had forgotten to write the last chapter. I think I'll stick to mysteries, but at least now if anyone discusses the book I can throw in my two cents.
Unabridged 8 cassettes
Unabridged 8 cassettes
Enjoyed this a lot - read it in 2 days
About a teenage girl and life with her single mom.
A great debut story of a young girl's adolescence.
Great read with engaging, interesting characters.
quick read good book
This is my 4th LM novel. Loved them all; have to say this is my favorite.
Had a hard time getting into this book but enjoyed it once I got past my initial block.
An extremely depressing book about relationships with friends and boys gone awry.
It's a coming of age story set in Kansas.
