Review: The Big Crunch - Pete Hautman

Where I got it: Library

Rating: 4.5 stars

Cover Rating: 5 stars (It's cute and perfect!)

Genre: Young Adult

Publication Date: January 1, 2011

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Page Count: 280 p.

June moves around a lot due to her parents business. Her parents help companies come up out of the red, and then they move on to the next hurting company. So June winds up in Minnesota. Wes just broke up with his girlfriend of nearly 18 months, because he just needed some time to be himself. Then Wes sees June. The connection is not really instant. Wes can only really recall her aqua colored eyes. As they glimpse at each other more and more, and eventually have a conversation though, something develops between them. Then June ends up dating Wes's best friend because she doesn't figure she's long for this town. What Wes and June don't realize though is that they have a connection, whether they like it or not and they will have to explore it as much as they can.

Can I just mention again that I love Pete Hautman. He just writes the perfect little books. They aren't super-filled with teen angst (though there is some) and they also aren't all supernatural-y. This was a great story about a girl who is trying not to hold on to the past, since she moves from place to place so often, that she never has time to really set roots down. This was a story about a boy who is trying to figure out who he is without the definition of a girlfriend, but finds himself inexorably drawn to June. I appreciated that June's father seemed to fill the whole room whenever he was in the scene. He is the type of person who does seem big and is full of isms for himself. I also enjoyed the use of the word "Next!". This reminded me of Vonnegut's "so it goes" and I liked the way Next! would quickly change the subject and the mood in the story. If you liked the book Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick you should definitely check this one out. It had the same romance without being a romantic book and teen drama, without being angst ridden. The tension and relationship between the characters was genuine and wholly realistic. Wes has uncontrollable anger toward his friend when he talks about going out with June, which though Wes doesn't realize it, is because he is jealous. This novel was just a perfect curl up in bed read. June and Wes at the beginning seem completely determined not to like each other and I love that they are drawn together anyways. Be it fate, or coincidence June and Wes are bound to each other in the way that young love can do. I thought at times June was a little awkward and harsh, but I think she was just cranky form being moved around so much. I did love her voices in her head. Sarcastic June and the others added a bit of humor to June's tormented mind. This story was told in alternating 3rd person between following June and following Wes. It kept the story fresh with one narrative overlapping the next. This is a book you should definitely read.

First Line:

"The first time Wes saw June, he thought she was kind of funny-looking."

Favorite Line:

"For example, if she joined the book club — there was always a book club — and hung out with them, her choice of guys would be limited to the dark and moody Chuck Palahniuk/Kurt Vonnegut/Life-Sucks-and-Then-You-Die brooders."