Review: Love and Other Perishable Items

First off, I have had the craziest semester of my life.  Last semester I student taught and worked.  I spent my life working 15 hour days everyday except Wednesdays and Sundays.  Needless to say, I about died when I did have a break, and though I did read, I just didn't have the energy to blog about what I read.  It was a sad existence.  However, I am now graduated and celebrating my brief time of freedom.  I have promised myself that I will catch up and post reviews on the books I read.  We will see how that goes.  Anyways, now for my first review in FOREVER!


Author: Laura Buzo
Release Date: Decemeber 11, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 256
Source: NetGalley
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Summary: Love is awkward, Amelia should know.

From the moment she sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, is 15.

Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?

Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up. 

My Favorite Lines:

“I wonder briefly if I could somehow broker a deal with God whereby if I put both my arms around Chris, his suffering would be transferred to me via skin-to-skin osmosis at a rate inversely proportionate to how much I love him.” 

"As we were driving down and then up the gully with those two huge wind socks, I had one of those moments when you get nostalgic about something as it’s still happening. Anticipatory nostalgia."

Why I Loved It:  I honestly used those quotes for a reason.  To me, they paint a truly beautiful picture of what the book was to me.  Laura Buzo has a fabulous way with words, twisting and turning them into something that delighted my very soul.  The book was fabulous and real and wonderfully Australian.  If you have ever had that incredible crush on the unattainable, this book will connect with you on a very real level.  

Working in what Chris refers to as the Land of Dreams, Amelia meets a boy.  A very charming and much too old boy.  They continue on to grow and cultivate a genuine friendship that leaves the reader jealous.  The real and raw power of this story appears in the way Ms. Buzo shows Amelia's yearning and Chris's confusion over his conflicted feelings for Amelia.  She shows love for what it really is.   Awkward.  Confusing.  Complicated.  This is no Hollywood love story where everything is just perfect.  It's a real world depiction of how the masses fall in love.  

I started this book on the way home from Tennessee.  And I finished it on the way home from Tennessee.  I didn't talk or text or let anyone else invade the world of Chris and Amelia.  I was enthralled.  I found it incredibly brilliant how she rewinded to show Chris's perspective of the story that Amelia had already shared.  I loved the way Chris's perspective was shown via his diary.  I have never quite read a book like this, and I can't wait to return to the world of Land of Dreams.  And lastly, I loved Amelia's refreshing conflicted idea of feminism.  And I now must read Kate Jennings.  There are a few snibbits of her writing included in the book that stole my very heart.  

And isn't the cover incredible?????

Who Should Read It:  Lovers of Contemporary, this book is a must-read.  I promise you that there is no disappointment to be had with this choice.  Also fellow lovers of boys with accents, how can you resist the Australian accent??