Ratings5
Average rating4.4
Critics and readers everywhere stood up and took notice when Laura Moriarty's captivating debut novel hit the stores in June '03. Janet Maslin of the New York Times praised The Center of Everything as “warm” and “beguiling.” USA Today compared the scrappy yet tenderhearted Evelyn Bucknow to Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. It garnered extensive national attention; from Entertainment Weekly to the Boston Globe and the San Francisco Chronicle, the press raved about the wisdom and poignancy of Moriarty's writing. The Book-of-the-Month Club snatched it up as a Main Selection, as did the Literary Guild. It was a USA Today Summer Reading Pick, a BookSense Top 10 Pick, and a BN.com book club feature title. And still, months after The Center of Everything's original publication date, reviews and features of the book continue to run nationwide.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book was compelling enough that it turned into a one-day read. It is a female coming-of-age story in Kansas in the 1980's. She never knew her father, and lives in poverty with her mother. She is bright, though, and though she makes mistakes, she learns from them, and from the mistakes of her mother.
First I have to say...What a
beautiful cover! I wanted to
buy this book just for the cover art.
But inside is also a beautifully written
novel, with lovely characters and
little surprises throughout. In the background,
I sensed the light pencil of creative writing
classes, but not enough to annoy me.
Recommended.