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    The Center of Everything
    The Center of Everything
    The Center of Everything
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Center of Everything

    Written by Laura Moriarty

    Narrated by Julie Dretzin

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A remarkable debut that has been called a hybrid of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Myla Goldberg's Bee Season, The Center of Everything is the fictional story of 10-year-old math prodigy Evelyn Bucknow. Living in Kansas with her single mother and deeply religious grandmother, Evelyn believes she is destined to marry Travis, the boy next door. But as she grows up, she experiences the heartbreak of a love not meant to be. Author Laura Moriarty was a recipient of the George Bennet Fellowship for Creative Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 7, 2014
    ISBN9781490622903
    The Center of Everything
    Author

    Laura Moriarty

    Laura Moriarty is the New York Times bestselling author of The Chaperone, as well as The Rest of Her Life, While I’m Falling, The Center of Everything, and American Heart. She received her degree in social work before returning for her MA in creative writing at the University of Kansas, and she was the recipient of the George Bennett Fellowship for Creative Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. She currently lives in Lawrence, Kansas, where she is a professor of creative writing at the University of Kansas. Visit her online at www.lauramoriarty.net.

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    Reviews for The Center of Everything

    4/5

    26 ratings22 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I have to say I was partial to the title, and what it represented, and that was enough to draw me in. This kid thinks the things we all think but don't say. Or maybe I should just speak for myself. She is independent, intelligent, a little lost, and hilarious. The Noah's Ark church in a skating rink is just one of the things that made me love this ironic witty author. Definitely I would recommend to anyone with a sense of humor who can stand those books from the heart.
    • 5/5
      I thought this was a great book - loved it! Read it in a weekend. I could completely identify with the character and really enjoyed the "old school" references growing up in the early 80's.
    • 4/5
      This was written so well - observations and thoughts that really reminded me of being 14 years old myself. A quirky way of making connections and wondering about the way things are... a main character who is human and interesting and faulty and kind and confused.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. My heart even broke a little for her. I couldn't put this book down.
    • 3/5
      This book was queued up and ready to read for about a week before I could really get into it - not really sure why. I've read other stories by Moriarty and seemed to like those, although those didn't make my favorites shelf either. This story is definitely a coming of age story, set in rural Kansas, in a family struggling to make ends meet.

      Evelyn lives with her mother, Tina, in a small apartment, and the story revolves around the two of them and her friends who also live in the building. You see the effects of the poverty - from getting a car (and dealing with the struggles of keeping it running) to finding food to eat. In one scene, Moriarty describes the embarrassment of having to sign up for free lunches at school so well, that it made me want to step in and punch the "paying lunch" parents myself.

      However, Evelyn shines - she is a capable girl with a good head on her shoulder and her teachers love her. As a school administrator, this warmed my heart. They went above and beyond to share with her that she was capable and special, something that needs to happen to all students, but especially to Evelyn. From an understanding 4th grade teacher who started to nurture her love of Science with a Science Fair to her high school teacher that brought her along to a conference and helped her with a scholarship - these are the feel good parts to this story.

      Add to the story some other social issues that seem more prevalent in poverty stricken communities - unwanted pregnancies, criminal activities, dropout rates, and jobs at the local McDonalds... At one point, the kids waited patiently for the new McDonalds to be built so they could have a place to hang out. Definitely rural...and before Walmart.

      Mind you, there are typical young adult issues within the story as well - the main one revolving around friendship. Evelyn is awkward at best, and has a beautiful friend, who makes her feel even more awkward. There's the additional storyline of a boy who has been there for her since she was young who has eyes for someone else. How many of us can relate to this (sadly)? There are also the girl bullies who taunt and who are entitled to new cars and oodles of friends, pointing out to Evelyn what she doesn't have. Peer pressure is there, but Evelyn seems somewhat naive and immune to it to a great degree.

      Another theme that stretched through the story was that of religion. Evelyn's grandmother felt that she should embrace her evangelical bible thumping in order to be saved, and her mom wanted nothing to do with it. There doesn't seem to be a grey area here with the religious folks either - super conservative or not at all. Add to that, the town rallied around the evolution vs. creationism debate at the local high school. Small town drama with big time issues. The end result of this debate actually angered me, but I won't give away spoilers.

      I've read a bunch of young adult stories that are good discussion candidates with adults alike, but this one just didn't strike me in that way. Perhaps it's that I work with families who experience poverty, or perhaps I was frustrated with the choices these characters DID have but didn't take... It just wasn't great in my mind - merely an okay kind of read.
    • 3/5
      Mainly about a girl and her family. Her mother who is very immature, her love of a boy, who marries her best friend, her handicapped brother and her relationship with her grandmother and religion. 7/1/04
    • 3/5
      Young gifted and poor. Smart but clueless about boys. Evelyn is navigating the high school landscape in an attempt to make it to college unscathed. Her best friend falls in love with her crush. The most beuatiful girl in school is killed in a car crash that seriously injured two other classmates, and Everlyn's brother is disabled...a lovely book about a seeming hopeless case. it's not a fairytale, but it's no horror either.
    • 4/5
      A good coming of age book. The mom was such an irresponsible loser she really made me sad that she wasn't willing to change for her daughter. I liked how the main Evelyn was so strong in spite of her situation.
    • 5/5
      Evelyn is growing up in Kerrville, Kansas, which for all intensive purposes is, even on the map in her classroom, the center of everything. Evelyn has a childhood crush on the bad boy next door, loathes the cool girl in her class, and so badly wants to grow up and fulfill her potential so she won't turn out like her mom, whose string of bad decisions has alienated Evelyn. This is the story of Evelyn's life as told by Evelyn herself as she navigates life's rough waters into adulthood, and it's a very stormy sea. Nothing terribly extraordinary happens within these pages, but Evelyn's candid, believable voice pulls readers into her story and makes them feel for her and for the people around her as she rides out the frequent heartbreaks and occasional joys of growing up. Evelyn has a lot to learn about love, about compassion, and about the gray areas that lurk in our daily lives where there just doesn't seem to be any definite right or wrong to go by.I don't say anything, but in my head, things have changed. I've drawn a line between us, the difference between her and me. It's like one of the black lines between the states on maps, lines between different countries on the globe. They don't really exist. You don't really see a long black line when you cross from the United States into Mexico, from Kansas to Missouri. But everyone knows where they are, and they are important, keeping one state separate from the other, so you can always tell which one you're in.Moriarty's knack for portraying the blunt reality of life is unequaled. She allows us no safe place and rubs salt in all the raw wounds of any of us who have ever suffered broken hearts or embarassment or disappointment. She always shows and never just tells with her writing. Moriarty's characters are needy but proud and selfish, and when they desperately need each other the most, they can't seem to keep from missing each other's advances or hurting each other even more. In other words, within the pages of The Center of Everything they become absolutely real, living, breathing people that we come to care about. When they start to make peace with their lives, we breathe a small sigh of relief because if they can, maybe we can, too. I definitely recommend this, if only for Moriarty's ability to capture the powerful story that lurks even in the most ordinary lives.
    • 5/5
      This is the story of Evelyn - a young girl in about the 4th grade at the beginning of the book. It is 1980 and Ronald Reagan is running for president. She lives with her mother, Tina, a single parent, in a apartment outside a small town in central Kansas. Her town is in the center of Kansas, which is in the center of the United States, which is in the center of the world map hanging in her classroom at school. The book follows Evelyn's life through her high school graduation, and places us at the center of her world as she struggles to understand it. There are awkward family relationships - her grandfather does not approve of her mother (who became an unwed teenage mother in the early 1970's). But national politics are confusing, too - if President Reagan is so good and caring, then how could he have known about the Iran-contra affair and allowed it to continue? She is also in the center of the community's heated debate about whether her beloved science teacher will be permitted to teach evolutionary theory in a community where her trusted pastor and her grandmother are both among the fundamentalist Christians who oppose it. (Placing Kansas education standards in the center of the national attention - which was every bit as embarrassing as Moriarty describes.) And, of course, every high school has its different groups of students - the rich and privileged, the delinquents, the good students, and the drop-outs. Evelyn's friends and enemies came from all these groups, putting her in the center of the conflicts and drama present on all campuses. I thought this book was wonderful. Very true-to-life. Some of the problems in Evelyn's life work out well, others don't work out at all. An excellent look at a struggling family - where the mother often can't afford to work, because she can't make enough money to pay for child care, or even reliable transportation in a rural community were public transportation does not exist. Evelyn manages to grow to become a young woman who is able to make up her own mind about what is important to her, and what she wants from her life, even when some of the people she loves and respects disapprove or disagree.
    • 5/5
      Have you ever read a book wherein words simply cannot suffice to describe your thoughts and feelings? This is one of those books.It is incredible, absorbing, emotionally ladened, spot on with perception, strong in character development, terrifically written, endearing, warm, sad, yet joyous and, at times, humorous.This is the debut of Laura Moriarty and I'll be sure to read her next books.Ten year old Evelyn Bucknow lives smack dab in the center of the United States in Kerrville, Kansas. Analogous to a tornado destructively spinning n the heartland of the Midwest, as she tells her story, immediately the reader is sucked into her tumultuous life.As events beyond her control seem to rapidly spin, kicking up unwanted debris and tragically whizzing on by, while at times smacking her face down in the ground, Evelyn's clear perception of her life is so wonderfully told that I wanted to read the book from cover - cover in one sitting.Packed with many themes, the author poignantly tells the story of a young girl wise beyond her age, forced to live with a mother whose selfish and unintelligent decisions spill into the lives of others, causing Evelyn to be the adult and parent.As Evelyn grows, she has clothes and shoes that don't fit and a mother who doesn't notice or care. Living in low income housing, Evelyn is consistently bullied by those richer than she. With little support, this feisty, spunky girl learns who to trust and how to fend for herself.When her mother's relationship with a married man results in a child who is challenged; when her mother's stubbornness results in the inability to hold a job, when the only person Evelyn trusts is stolen away by another friend, Evelyn finds inner strength and fortitude to push forward.Intelligent and bright, Evelyn has keen observations and insights about people, about life, about right wing religion that judges instead of helps and about what society can do to those whom them deem less fortunate.I loved this book! Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      A friend recommended The Center of Everything and I am so glad she did. I found this to be a fresh and fascinating story told by a precocious and entertaining 10-year-old, Evelyn Bucknow. I thought the writing was excellent, presenting a true feeling of place and time, intertwining actual events into the story. Evelyn’s perspective of those around her was honest and straightforward. While she faced many hardships, she never seemed to lose her enthusiasm for life and especially for school. I have the definite feeling that Evelyn will go far in this world and rise above the rather rough start she had in life.
    • 4/5
      This book has had high reviews & has been sitting on my stack for quite some time now, waiting to be read. While I enjoyed this coming-of-age-in-the-80's novel, I was somehow hoping for a little more. I can see how this book would "speak" to the teen population, however, as its main character Evelyn is portrayed fairly well. Basically this is the story of a bright young girl growing up with a single mother, living in near-poverty, and struggling to fit in as anyone her age would. Along the way, she experiences love & heartache, disappointment, birth, death, & most things associated with the teenage years. It was well-written & struck some emotional chords with me. Yet I wasn't blown away. The ending took me by surprise, but not in the way you'd expect.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 2/5
      This would be a great book club selection - lots to talk about - with some interesting characters - and a great heroine.
    • 4/5
      Evelyn Bucknow, 10 years old, living with a single mother in kansas. Life is hard and full of bad luck, bad decisions, precarious at best.We follow Evelyn through her rocky adolesence, fueled by politics, food stamps, right wing religion, the birth of a severly handicappedbrother, and an unrequited love, and emerge on the other side much wiser and more forgiving. Sometimes what seems to be clearly right, is not, and we see that everyone has their own reasons for the choices they make. An inspiring coming of age story that goes right to the center of teen age angst, then comes out the other side with a firmly established sense of self. Who cannot remember how difficult this time in life is? An intelligent young girl growing up under very difficult circumstances learns to make the right choices for herself.
    • 4/5
      Moriarty's crowning achievement with this novel was her creation of such an honest, real character in Evelyn Bucknow, a gifted but poor student living with her irresponsible young mother on the outskirts of a small Kansas town. The author also captures in brutal reality the scary uncertainties of poverty - when the family car breaks down Evelyn can't go to school, her mother Tina can't go to work and the only available help comes with definite strings attached.Evelyn and Tina grow up together as the novel progresses, maturing and finding their places in the world - one of the book's primary themes is that of education, or more fundamentally the power of one person to teach another. Eveyln is influenced by her Bible-thumping grandmother at the same time that a progressive Biology teacher at her school fights for the right to teach her students evolution. Evelyn's life is forever changed when one teacher tells her that she's gifted: "She takes off her glasses, still looking at me. I take off my glasses too, because for a moment I think she is going to place them on my eyes, the way you place a crown on someone's head when they become queen. Welcome to being smart." It is this 'strength of smarts' that girds Evelyn through the traumas of adolescence and leads her to a college scholarship and the elusive possibility of freedom.I really enjoyed this book, I give it four stars. The characters are real, the writing clear and honest and the themes univeral - and yet, Moriarty keeps the story feeling fresh and as-yet-untold, in my opinion quite a feat.
    • 4/5
      This is a book about a little girl who is smart, from the wrong side of the tracks trying to come of age with a quirky mother, a beautiful best friend and a handicapped brother, all of whom overshadow her. Not an unusual premise, and the execution of it is what you would expect. It's a good book, well-written, but without managing to stand out in any very special way.
    • 5/5
      Not everybody can write from a child's perspective and pull it off. And I'm not quite sure that this one does. However, I did find the story interesting and compelling.
    • 3/5
      I feel like this book was a waste of time. I'm not sure if it was because I interrupted listening to it with another book, or if it just really didn't have a point. I guess I the point could be that Evelyn ended up getting threw a lot, but I kept waiting for something big.
    • 4/5
      An excellent coming-of-age story set in the 1980s. Evelyn is the daughter of a teenage mother estranged from her family. The story begins when she is in fourth grade and continues through her senior year as she deals with her mother's immaturity and a handicapped younger brother. She struggles with the poverty she is born into and her feelings for the boy next door as she grows into a young woman we can admire.
    • 4/5
      This book reminded me a lot of To Kill a Mockingbird, which is my favorite book. Evelyn must learn to find herself among her life with her mother, who doesn't always make the appropriate choices in life. And what Eveyln thinks she wants, is not even close to what she's actually looking for.