Why We Broke Up (Compact Disc)

By Daniel Handler, Maira Kalman (Illustrator), Khristine Hvam (Read by)

Little, Brown Young Readers, 9781611132960, 6pp.

Publication Date: December 27, 2011

Winter 2012 Kids' Next List

“Min has broken up with Ed and is writing him a letter chronicling their relationship and all the reasons that it has come to an end. To prove to herself and her friends that the relationship is over, Min has put together all of the tokens she accumulated during the brief relationship. The box and the letter are Min's goodbye present for Ed. Each chapter begins with an illustration of an item in the box, followed by the chapter of the relationship associated with it. What better way to get over your high school relationship than reading Min's story and adding your own?”
— Marika McCoola, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA
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Description

I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.

Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.



About the Author

DANIEL HANDLER has written for grown-ups under his own name and for younger readers under the name Lemony Snicket. He was dumped at least three times in high school.

MAIRA KALMAN, acclaimed artist and designer, has created many books for both grown-ups and children. Her heart was broken in high school by a boy who looked like Bob Dylan.
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