The Center of Everything : A Novel
by Laura Moriarty
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Book Summary Information
Author: Laura MoriartyEdition: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2004-07-14
ISBN: 1615538836
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Hyperion Press
Book Reviews of The Center of Everything : A Novel
Book Review: Keeping it real
Summary: 5 Stars
Coming of age novels are my favorite, and this one did not disappoint. Evelyn covers her life from the 5th grade till she is about to graduate from high-school. The way she processes information through her young brain and how she finally puts the pieces together is worth the book alone. Her level of maturity is never incongruous. I particularly loved the struggle she had between her love of science, the theory of evolution, and the evangelical Christians in Kansas contending they don't come from Homo anything. Because the whole thing was complex (her arch-enemy Traci supports evolution, while her beloved grandmother is a Bible thumper), Evelyn has to carefully consider each part and be very honest with herself. The ending was brilliant, that sad car ride with Travis and how she put it in perspective:
"If someone would have shown me this scene a few years ago, played it on a screen like a clip from a movie, I would have been happy. I'd have taken one look at me and Travis in a car on a starry night, listening to love songs on the radio, Travis singing along, and I'd have thought, Oh good."
There are so many well-developed relationships in this novel: her young neighbor Travis (her first crush, her first broken heart), her mom, her grandmother, her teachers, her school friends....
I will be seeking this author again. This was a masterful first novel, and hopefully there will be many more to come.
Summary of The Center of Everything : A Novel
Evelyn Bucknow lives with her single mother, Tina, in a small apartment in Kansas. Though warm and loving, Tina is young, immature, and prone to hasty decisions that create a precarious financial situation for her increasingly anxious daughter. When a failed romance with her married boss leaves Tina jobless and desperate, Evelyn turns to her grandmother to distance herself from her mother's irresponsibility.Laura Moriarty's debut novel is a simple story, but effectively told. Ten-year-old Evelyn Bucknow lives with her not very responsible young mother, Tina, on the outskirts of a small Kansas town. The Center of Everything follows a clean arc: How Evelyn, a gifted but poor student, negotiates the pitfalls of her background to become a college student. The book shows the scary tenuousness of poverty. When Tina's car breaks down, their life falls apart like a flimsy cardboard edifice. Evelyn can't get to school, Tina can't get to work, and unseemly relationships with men who own cars develop. The novel's other theme is the importance of teaching; when one of her teachers tells her she's gifted, Evelyn's life is changed. "She takes off her glasses, still looking at me. I take off my glasses too, because for a moment I think she is going to place them on my eyes, the way you place a crown on someone's head when they become queen. Welcome to being smart." As she heads into adolescence, Evelyn sees her best friend fall in love and become pregnant, just as Tina did when she was a teenager. Evelyn resists these traps, not without some lovelorn, lonely moments. The Center of Everything careens dangerously near fingerwagging at times, but the book's salvation comes from unexpected quarters: Evelyn's mom Tina. At the outset, she seems beleaguered and lost, but as the book progresses she develops a wry resiliency. We get to watch Evelyn and Tina grow up together, and it's a rare sight. --Claire Dederer
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