It is such a glaringly one-sided relationship. what does some independent lesbian want out of a relationship with an emotionally underdeveloped boy, especially once it becomes clear he has a crush on her and asks her to the prom for goodness' sake? teen girls do not typically have this kind of patience with starry-eyed stalker losers, especially if even a drunken pity-hookup is so far out of the question. he is clearly not as smart, talented, or interesting as she is, which is why he is forced to lie so frequently.

I don't really understand what marisol gets out of the relationship - why she keeps coming back. she's cool, he's not, and yet they form a relationship based on zines and teen angst until john/gio douches out and the ending happens. sure, it is about a friendless boy whose home life is emotionally barren and a firecracker of a lesbian, but it isn't really about sexuality - that part is used more as window dressing than spotlit, and only serves as an obstacle to keep the characters from kissing. So - more damaged kids attracting each other like magnets, filling in the places left by distant, absent, or overinvolved adults. With keen insight into teenage life, Ellen Wittlinger delivers a story of adolescence that is fierce and funny - and ultimately transforming - even as it explores the pain of growing up. On the sandy beaches by the Bluefish Wharf Inn, John realizes just how hard love can be. Desperately hoping to fix things, John convinces Marisol to come with him to a zine conference on Cape Cod. Unfortunately, John mistakes this growing intimacy for love, and a disastrous date to his junior prom leaves that friendship in ruins. While at first their friendship is based on zines, dysfunctional families, and dreams of escape, soon both John and Marisol begin to shed their protective shells. It's no wonder John writes articles like 'Interview with the Stepfather' and 'Memoirs from Hell.' The only release he finds is in homemade zines like the amazing Escape Velocity by Marisol, a self-proclaimed 'Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee Lesbian.' Haning around the Boston Tower Records for the new issue of Escape Velocity, John meets Marisol and a hard love is born. Since his parents' divorce, John's mother hasn't touched him, her new fiancé wants them to move away, and his father would rather be anywhere than at Friday night dinner with his son.

Hard love by ellen wittlinger