The Center of Everything

Great Freebie!!

This book pulled me into the storyline from the start! Put this one on your TBR list...

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Absolutely Fantastic!

I had read Laura Moriarty's other 2 books before I read this one and I feel like even though I went in reverse order, I saved the best for last. I am an avid reader and audio-book listener and this was by far one of the best books I have read in a long time. You cheer for Evelyn and her family the whole way, hoping that they will finally catch a break in life. I was so sad to see it end just when she was ready to start the next chapter of her life in college. Perhaps a sequel? A must-read!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Perfect

Probably my favorite book this year. Poignant without being whiney, poetic, funny, and very hard to put down. A must for any book club.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great read

I live in a remote location and read constantly. This was by far the best book I have read in a long long time. I can not wait for her next book. I grew up in the same era as Evelyn and I think everyone either knew or was a character in the book. Very easy to relate to and even harder to put down!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Loved this book!

Great coming of age book. Excellantly written.

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It+was+amazing%21+I+loved+the+WHOLE+story%21%21+I+admired+eveything+but+the+last+oage.+It+didnt+have+much+closer.+But+i+recomend+this+book+to+peiple+from+ages+10%2B+because+of+the+amount+of+swears+and+mentionings.+It+also+includes+some+religious+beliefs+that+only+older+people+will+understand.+Other+than+that+i+highly+recomend+this+book%21%22%22

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book!

No text was provided for this review.

Amazingly Good!

I absolutely loved this book! Its a story about a young, intelligent girl who is trying to find herself in the midst of everyone else. She sticks to her guns and is always original. There are obstacles she has to overcome and people she deals with but she does it in a gracious way and narrates the story like an adult versus a little girl. I enjoyed reading about life from her point of view and it was refreshing to read about someone who's mind stretched out beyond conventional thinking. Moriary puts this story together just as if it is her own life in a way that everyone can connect!

Still trying to finish

This book is so slow moving and somewhat boring that every time I try to read it I find myself falling asleep. The story seems to be leading up to something, which is why I keep trying to read it but it's taking to long to really involve me in the story so that I want to stay with it! I will ammend this review if I ever get finished and find that the end is worth the effort of sticking with it, but so far I'm not there!

This was a great book.

Though I'm much older than the main character, I can remember what it was like to not quite fit in. I could easily relate to Evelyn and her troubles and joys.

'The Center of Everything' started out slow, but then it hooked me and I couldn't put it down.

The characters are very real people tackling real but ordinary challenges in their lives. These are the quirky people that live down the street. You might gossip about them and even judge them harshly, but then you get to know them and they become your best friends. Even minor characters are treated with tenderness and care.

Another thing I loved about this book is how full it is of 80's nostalgia and pop culture. Moriarty accomplishes this by paying great attention to details like what TV shows are playing in the background and what people think about the president.

The biggest surprise of all came in the way the characters dealt with the moral challenges in their lives and the consequences of good and bad choices.

All this told through in the voice of a teenage girl trying to get through the days of high school.

Interesting, but not terribly original.

While I agree that this book is absorbing while you are reading it, I also found it to be equally forgettable afterward. The central character, Evelyn, is the primary source of interest. Most of the other characters come off as losers who inspire little empathy in the reader. It is certainly not a crime to be poor, but they seem determined to remain in their pathetic, dead-end existences, with no aspirations for anything better, and (more importantly) no sense of responsibility. I did think that the ending was a little bit too abrupt. I was left hoping that Evelyn would go on to college and rise above environment poverty and lack of self-responsibility in which she has grown up; unfortunately, there is room for doubt as to whether she will be strong enough to do so with so many forces around her trying to drag her down. I feel that this book is a fairly strong indictment against our current welfare system, as we observe Evelyn's mother (Tina) and two best friends (Deena and Travis) mired down in the welfare lifestyle and the self-perpetuating cycle of poverty that it promotes. It could provide a good jumping off point for discussions about poverty, welfare, and what the rest of us should or should not do to try to improve the lives of those who cannot or will not try to help themselves.

I feel, however, compelled to point out the many similarities between the plot and structure of this book and another, far superior novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. ATGiB also tells the story of a young girl (Francie Nolan) growing up in a poor family, but I felt it was far superior, more compelling, more memorable, and with many characters with whom one can sympathize. I feel quite certain that Ms. Moriarty must have read ATGiB at some point, as the parallels with her own novel are far too numerous to be coincidental. Both books focus on a young girl growing up in a poor family and are told (primarily) from her point of view; both books cover the span of time from when the girl is ten or eleven until she is about to go to college; both girls have much younger siblings; in both families the father goes away before the baby is born (Francie's father dies whereas the father of Evelyn's baby brother simply takes off); both girls are intelligent and determined to get an education and achieve a better life; both girls had grandfathers who were abusive; and so forth. The most striking difference between the two books is that the mother in ATGiB is very hard-working and responsible and is determined to help her children to better themselves. She is dead-set against charity or taking handouts and believes that education and hard work will enable her children to achieve a better life than she herself has had.

TCoE does, however, provide what no novel from the 1940's can, namely, the sense nostalgia and remembrance for the time of one's own youth and young adulthood. Many of today's readers will vividly recall the 1980's, whereas few people alive today can remember the 1910's.

In the final analysis, I felt that The Center of Everything is absorbing and easy to read, but could have been better.

Coming of age

This was a great reflection of a girl growing up. It shows that she understood many things as she matured and learned how to handle things. Her dilemmas are real as she tries to decide what to say, how to handle herself with people in her life, making decisions, etc. The beginning of this book took place during the end of my youth. I enjoyed the references to time. I felt very real all the way through. I look forward to more of Moriarty.

Enjoyable...mostly

Not the best book that I have read, but enjoyable enough to finish it.

Great debut!

The Center of Everything is a fresh and eloquently written coming-of-age story set in Kansas in the 1980s. The novel is written from the perspective of Evelyn Bucknow and spans a period of 8 years 'from when she is 10 years old to 18'. Moriarty does an excellent job of depicting Evelyn at each age, showing Evelyn's narration gradually mature. This novel is truly a must read. It will have you crying and laughing all the way through. The tense relationship between Evelyn and her mother is perfectly depicted. So is the relationship between Evelyn and her two friends, Deena and Travis. By the end of the novel, you feel as if you have known Evelyn your whole life. It as if you have literally been standing beside her as she deals with all of hte trials and tribulations that come with growing up. The Center of Everything was the best book I have read in the past year, and I am looking forward to more great books from Laura Moriarty!

If only it never ended...

I don't ordinarily post reviews, but felt compelled to offer my two cents after reading the criticism other readers recently posted. It's true--this isn't a high concept, Hollywood plot. If you're looking for twists and turns and completely lovable protagonists, look elsewhere. What this book has to offer is much more rewarding. It's subtle, with the narrator's voice changing slightly as she matures, and real, with a focus on the smaller moments that ultimately make Evelyn who she is. The characters are recognizable and complex. And Moriarty's prose is superb--beautiful and effortless. It was a wonderful read, one I will surely read again and again.

Fantastic

I read this book when I was 15 after picking it up in an airport bookstore and I literally could not put it down. It really touched me at that age and I certaintly will never forget it. I thought that it was a great book with a great main character, Evelyn, who even as a young child can see the mistakes being made around her. Terrific.

GOD AWFUL

This book is the worst book I have read in a long time. The author jumps ahead 3 years in one page, then stretches one day our over 3 chapters. It is boring and pointless. The author does not explain important things. She also seems to forget things that happened, like in the middle of the book, they are watching TV, even though their power got cut off in the beginning. DO NOT BUY THIS!

Story lacks substance

This is not a very good book - the story lacks substance and originality. The main character comes out as a not-so-good-looking and not-very-intelligent girl and her life is rather pathetic ¿ she is a follower by nature and her story does not offer much to the reader. The mother's character is a bit more interesting - a wittier persona that handles life pretty well - but the writer doesn't really get anywhere with the story. I was disappointed by this book ¿ I would have preferred to read a story about a girl who is perhaps a bit more intelligent and a leader rather than a follower in her life.

One of my favorite books......

I loved this book, from beginning to end. I wish that I had this to read when I was in junior high school. I think this should be on every school reading list. Both young men and women would gain so much perspective and empathy by adding this novel to their reading experiences. There is something in this book for everyone.