Min and Ed were not the highschool couple anyone expected. Min is (forgive me as I use the word) “artsy” or at least an ignorant jock’s idea of what artsy is, and Ed is of lack of a better term, an ignorant jock. But their love flames hot and heavy and Min can safely say she’s found her first love. Of course none of that matters because Min and Ed broke up. And you know it from page one.
The book is narrated by Min. She is writing a letter to go with a box of stuff. Stuff, she says, will explain to Ed why she broke up. In the ultimate act of closure Min is packing up her relationship,
writing a letter (and tossing away the pen), and dumping it all on Ed’s door step before turning her back on him forever. The story is also accompanied by artwork, giving you the perfect image to go along with the story and adding another unique layer to Handler’s young adult masterpiece.
I was wary about opening this book up at first. To be honest, it sounded a little gimickey. A picture book for teens. I found my adolescent self buried deep inside rolling her eyes and going “how quaint”. And then by the end of the book I was crying harder than I did at the end of John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars”. We’ve all had those moments whether still in high school, barely finished, or graduated years ago. You don’t go through high school without having your heart broken. Sometimes it’s by a best friend who wanted to grow up without you, sometimes by a love that was never returned, and sometimes (like Min) by the ending of our relationship with that notorious first love. Somehow Handler has managed to create a book that can appeal to anyone. Throughout the whole book I kept thinking how I wished I’d been able to create a break-up box, even if just for my own piece of mind. To pack up those memories, tell whoever broke our hearts what an asshole they were and why, and then to push them out of our lives.
The writing is brilliant, Handler captures emotions beautifully and the accompanying artwork helps to enhance the story in a way I didn’t imagine it could. I fully intend to go out and pick up more of Handler’s books (who, if you didn’t already know is also the infamous Limoney Snickett) and would highly recommend them to any teens (and adults) in my life.
Min and Ed were not the highschool couple anyone expected. Min is (forgive me as I use the word) “artsy” or at least an ignorant jock’s idea of what artsy is, and Ed is of lack of a better term, an ignorant jock. But their love flames hot and heavy and Min can safely say she’s found her first love. Of course none of that matters because Min and Ed broke up. And you know it from page one.
