Love and Lies
Love & Lies: Marisol's Story
Love and Lies
Ellen Wittlinger
Marisol Guzman has deferred college for a year to accomplish two things: She will write a novel and she will fall in love. How hard could that be? She gets her very own apartment (with her high school best friend as roommate) and a waitressing job at a classic Harvard Square coffeehouse. When she enrolls in an adult education class -- "How to Write Your First Novel" -- there are two big surprises waiting for her: John Galardi, aka "Gio," a fellow zine writer who fell head over heels for her last spring (despite the fact that she's a lesbian) and her instructor, Olivia Frost, the most exquisitely beautiful woman she's ever seen. But as Marisol ventures into what seems to be her storybook romance with Olivia, things start to go off track. Between the ups and downs of her new relationship, her strained friendship with Lee (a newly out lesbian who is crushing big-time on Marisol), and her roommate's new boyfriend (who is equally afraid of Marisol and their cat) moving in, Marisol starts losing sight of her goals. Is she too blinded by love to see the lies? In this long-anticipated companion novel to the Printz Honor Book Hard Love, which critics called "A bittersweet tale of self-expression and the struggle to achieve self-love," Ellen Wittlinger offers a novel just as emotionally honest and deeply felt.

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Fiction
  • Juvenile Fiction
  • Romance

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
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Marisol Guzman attends a "How to Write Your First Novel" class and mets a guy, named Gio, who falls in love with her, although she is a lesbian. She is stunned, but soon Marisol sees the teacher, Olivia Frost, and immediately she is head over heels in love with her! Marisol's life is further complicated when a friend, Lee, who is newly out of the closet, is also attracted to Marisol. Will Marisol find love or will she be disappointed to find she wasn't looking hard enough?

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