Breaking Up: From Heartache to Happiness

This was the first Norma Klein novel that I read, sometime back in junior high school, and the one that introduced me to Klein's wonderfully real teen characters. This particular novel stands out in my mind not only for the fact that Ali, Ethan, and Gretchen were some of my favorite fictional characters, but also for what must have been one of the very first homosexual relationships to be portrayed in a young adult novel (I believe this was first published in the 1970's). As realistically and sensitively done as the subplot involving Ali's mother is, it is still only a contributing factor to what makes this book great. Ali's struggle to adjust to the many changes in her life, such as her parent's divorce and being forced to choose between them, a move to the opposite end of the country, and her changing relationship with her best friend when Ali falls in love with her friend's brother, are very true to life. Norma Klein's books are always a refreshing change from the Sweet Valley clones flooding the market, and this is one of the best.