Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Ria

Heart on My Sleeve is the story of two high school seniors. Chloe and Julian met at a pre-frosh event at Cartwright. They immediately clicked, and after the event was over, they remained in contact. They e-mailed each other constantly, and through their e-mails, their friendship progressed into a long distance romance. There was only one problem, Chloe was still going out with her best friend, Eli, whom she had known forever, and she couldnt bring herself to break up with him.

Chloe also kept in contact with her older sister, Genevieve. When Veev comes to visit Chloe during prom/graduation, Chloe senses that her sister has changed. Veev then drops a bombshell that startles the family.

Julian also keeps in touch with his older sister, Carly. Carly and their mother couldnt get along, and that strained the family. But Carly visits Julian during his graduation. Carly and their mother had another falling apart, which split the family more. Then, Carly suddenly announces that she is marrying her boyfriend of over six months (a landmark event).

Add in the suddenly crumbling relationship between Eli and Chloe when he finds out about Julian, and fights between Chloe and her best friend Kate; Chloes 8 week departure to Maple Hill Arts Camp and new revelations about the people there; and secrets and makeups between children and their parents, and you have Heart on My Sleeve.

Heart on My Sleeve was a really good book. Its told through letters, e-mails, and IMs. The book was good on relating on many levels of relationships, parents, friends, lovers. Ellen Wittlinger didnt try to sugar coat anything and didnt try to make everything end up happily ever after. She kept the story true to life and definitely something that readers can relate to. Heart on My Sleeve was an excellent book and I recommend this to anyone.