Heartbreak Cafe 1: No Experience Required

Teen girls will love this. Debbie comes from a wealthy American family and has everything- lovely house, flashy car, a boyfriend whos heading to Harvard after his senior year, posh school and a mother who does everything for her. Then everything changes when her father leaves to become a writer. Now theres no money, no beautiful house, no membership to the country club and no allowance. To top it all her mother signs up for college and has no time for anything as she is so busy studying. So for the first time in her life Debbie has to find a job herself to pay for her car which she refuses to give up. To spite her parents she gets a job in the Heart break Caf serving people who are not 'our sort' of people. She struggles to be taken seriously by Joe Garbarini, the owner's grandson who generally runs the place. Theres a wonderfully predictable tension between the two of them as Debbie tries to prove she can last out a month at the Caf. The other regulars are an interesting collection of oddball characters and Debbie learns how to appreciate them all and also realises how shallow and fake a lot of her old life was. This would make a brilliant summer read for any young teenage girl wanting a touch of romance.
212pages / Age 11+ / Reviewed by Melanie Chadwick, librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+