Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Jennifer Harris now Jenna Vaughn and Cameron Quick used to be best friends as children. They were the outcasts. Jenna used to be bullied for her lisp and because he was chubby. She would cry a lot which inevitably gave the bullies more fuel to their fire calling her Cry Baby. She like Cameron had a tough home life. Well maybe not as much as Cameron... Jenna's mom is never home. She spent hours without her and when she really needed her she couldn't go to her. She has no father and no one else. She is alone.

Cameron has a similar situation in which he is also alone. His home life is tougher. You get a piece of it when Jenna slowly starts to tell you the story of her ninth birthday at his house with his father. And then soon afterwards he disappeared. Just. Like. That. But now he has suddenly reappeared. That boy who loved her. That boy who cared for her. That boy who made her feel safe. But now Jennifer is Jenna. She has a stepdad and she lives in a nice house, has friends, and even has a boyfriend. She's also skinny and will always watch her weight, what she wants to say (mainly that she's not always happy like her boyfriend wants her to be), and that she'll always smile even when she wants to cry. She is shocked when discovering that Cameron's back. He's supposed to be dead. And with him comes a whole set of feelings that she thought was left behind with her nine year old self. And now he wants to relive it.

This was a great book. When you finish it you start to contemplate life. But there is also this wanting more at the end. It had some "unfinished business" that needed to be addressed. First Jenna herself. She completely changed her name and at the end it was like she was okay with it. Maybe now that I think about it it did address it a little. It did say that maybe this was her now. But it was very vague. Also the food. She did start to eat more when Cameron came and let herself indulge in some things but it also was not really addressed. Those things could have added more to this otherwise great book. But I have to complain about the end before I continue. Well.. I have to be more specific now. The relationship at the end. It was so ridiculous how it ended. Can't say more without giving anything away.

So other than that it was quite good. There was the mystery of what happened on her birthday, her mother frustrating the hell out of me, and Cameron himself. Cameron was so weird. But I think he was always quiet like that. It was just weird seeing him in Jenna's world. The ring was odd too. It sent mix signals for the obvious reasons as well as it was kind of stalkerish creepy... Now Jenna and her boyfriend.... she spoke her mind once. Everything she said I was totally agreeing with her on. It was a pretty memorable moment that would make all women out there go "yeah!" So even though I've complained a bunch about the book know that all around it was really great.