The Lonely Hearts Club

Bibliography:

Eulberg, Elizabeth. 2010. The Lonely Hearts Club. New York: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 9780545140317

Summary:

After suffering a heartbreak at the hands of her childhood love, Penny, named after a Beatles song, decides that boys are not worth it. She starts The Lonely Hearts Club for girls who are sick of putting guys at the top of their priority list only to be treated badly. After word gets out, Penny is amazed at how many girls feel the same way and are willing to swear off dating boys in order to give themselves and their girl friends top priority. Unfortunately, just when the club reaches its peak of popularity, Penny meets a guy that just might be different from the rest. Now she has to find a way to give love a chance without trading in her ideals and compromising her loyalty to her fellow club members.

Critical Analysis:

I just want to say that, being a single chick, I really really really wanted to like this book. Elizabeth Eulberg was one of the authors at the Greater Houston Teen Book Convention, which I attended, and her humorous and energetic presence is what made me buy her book in the first place. I really like the concept of the book in which a strong female character decides that she doesn't need to date to be happy. The problem, I think, is in the character development. I never really felt like I got inside Penny's head and therefore was just not as invested in her as I could have been. The dialogue also didn't seem authentic to me, sounding more like an adult trying to talk like a teenager than an actual teenager. For example, Penny's best friend in the book says things like "what to the evs" and "those shoes are adorbs". One or two signature sayings I could have believed, but I don't know any teenager who talks like the captions in Tiger Beat magazine. In the same way, some of the interactions in the book also seem cliched. Any time a conversation between a girl and a guy ends up with the giggling girl being thrown over the guy's shoulder, you know it's not going to tax your imagination to figure out how the book will end. Likewise, some of the action in the book was a little melodramatic. I accept that the club is serious to the characters but there are a few parts where I caught myself literally rolling my eyes. One part that comes to mind is when Diane, a friend of Penny's, sees one of Tracy's (Penny's best friend) many crushes kiss another girl. A dramatic moment ensues when Penny and Diane discuss how mad Tracy will be at Diane when she tells her. Really? Granted, Tracy doesn't like Diane very much and is prone to obnoxious dramatic outbursts, which would have been fine if the other characters acknowledged that personality trait. But instead, they are truly worried (you can almost hear the duh.. duh...duhhh in the background) and, worse, ask the reader to be equally invested. Penny's parents are a whole other problem. What could have been portrayed as her parent's quirky endearing love of Beatles music crossed the line for me about the time that we find out that they are vegetarians, and require their children to be vegetarians, ONLY because Paul McCartney is. At that point in time, they became immature groupie morons to me, completely stripping them of any parental credibility and making it hard to take them seriously when they try to assume that role. On a positive note, I didn't absolutely hate the book, although it seems like I did. It does a few things really well, like depicting the universally familiar emotions of having your best friend desert you for a guy. I think that just about everybody has that experience at some point in their lives. The message that the book gets across is empowering for girls, as well. It is an urgent reminder to remember your priorities, to not lose yourself in trying to please the opposite sex, to value your girlfriends, and to be sure you know who you are before you share yourself with someone else. This book will probably find an audience with tween and teen girls who are looking for a strong female main character and identify with the angst of dating (and breaking up). This being Elizabeth Eulberg's debut novel, I find there is just enough promise in this book that I will read her next book just to see how she is growing and improving as a writer.

A review from Booklist:

"After a devastating betrayal by the boy she thought she was destined to be with forever, Penny Lane Bloom (who fortunately inherited her parents’ love of the Beatles to go with her name) swears off guys and quietly starts the Lonely Hearts Club. To her surprise, many of her girlfriends are also sick of high-school guys and want to join—even Diane, Penny’s former best friend and one-half of the school’s power couple until a recent, amicable breakup. The club grows and becomes an influential social force as members meet every Saturday night, go to dances together, and support one another in their academic and extracurricular pursuits. But conflict arises when the school administration fears the group is getting too powerful and “making the boys feel bad,” and Penny finds herself torn between her no-boy pledge and the courteous advances of one of the nicest guys she knows—who happens to be Diane’s ex-boyfriend. This first novel will be a draw for readers looking for an upbeat take on friendship, empowerment, and finding romance without losing yourself. Grades 7-10. --Heather Booth"

*Here is a link to the Barnes and Noble page that includes a short video interview with the author, Elizabeth Eulberg.