Why We Broke Up

Daniel Handler, AKA Lemony Snicket, has written a totally new kind of book in Why We Broke Up.  Told in the form of a letter, this is the story of brokenhearted intellectual Min (Minerva) who is divesting herself of all the memories and associated treasures accumulated over a two-month love affair with the co-captain of the school basketball team, Ed Slaterton.  Min is not your typical “bleacher girlfriend.”  She’s not the kind of girl that boys like handsome, athletic, popular jock Ed Slaterton usually go for, but theirs is a special connection a true against all odds kind of love and yet, ultimately the odds beat them.

If you like teen romance books—Sarah Dessen, Maureen Johnson and Susane Colasanti  kind of books—you will like this book! Min is a strong female character, very smart, quirky, “arty” as she often gets referred to by Ed and his jock friends.  She is an independent spirit.  She is clever and thoughtful.  She knows herself and she’s confident in her self-knowledge.  And yet, despite her own best interests, she is faced with this unusual opportunity for love.  It is a love that really tests what she knows about herself and she finds she wants to challenge those high school identity limitations.  During her courtship with Ed, she must find a way to remain true to herself while being invested in this relationship—which is a difficult balance even for those twice her age.  In their time together, they come to understand each other’s world views while sharing a special us against the world kind of love.  The trope of telling the story in the form of a letter explaining “why we broke up” is terrific!  Falling in love and then breaking up with someone is a universal tale and Daniel Handler proves he has a unique understanding of this classic tale and writes a very believable and sympathetic character in Min.  I can totally see this book being made into a movie.  It has all the elements of a tried and true romantic story being told in a fresh and interesting way.