The Center of Everything: Summary and book reviews of The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty, plus links to an excerpt from The Center of Everything and a biography of Laura Moriarty.

In Laura Moriarty's extraordinary first novel, a young girl tries to make sense of an unruly world spinning around her. Growing up with a single mother who is chronically out of work and dating a married man, 10-year old Evelyn Bucknow learns early how to fend for herself. Offering an affecting portrayal of a troubled mother/daughter relationship, one in which the daughter is very often expected to play the role of the adult, the novel also gives readers a searing rendering of the claustrophobia of small town midwestern life, as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl. Evelyn must come to terms with the heartbreaking lesson of first love -- that not all loves are meant to be -- and determine who she is and who she wants to be. Stuck in the middle of Kansas, between best friends, and in the midst of her mother's love, Evelyn finds herself . . . in The Center of Everything.

Media Reviews

Atlanta Journal Constitution The great strength of this debut novel is the wonderfully clear voice of its protagonist, Evelyn Buchnow…   Arizona Republic The heart of the book is…Evelyn. She is funny, smart and fiercely observant.   Time Out New York Absorbing and emotionally generous…there's no shortage of wry humor and evocative details of time and place.   Christian Science Moniter The secret to Moriarty's success is pitch-perfect voice and unfailing restraint.   San Diego Union Tribune Teriffic. . . . Moriarty has steady confidence…expertly wringing poignancy from…young lives. . . . A deeply satisfying novel.   Chicago Tribune Graceful and poignant.   Denver Post & Rocky Mountain News Lively and endearing . . . a complete tour of . . . conflicts between mother and daughter, as well as between the narrator's hopes and dreams.   Janet Maslin, The New York Times . . .a warm, beguiling book full of hard-won wisdom.   O Magazine Realistic and familiar as a summer day in Kansas -- brave and gritty, strong voiced and spare.   Time Out New York Moriarty creates empathetic, engaging characters and situations.   Entertainment Weekly A winning first novel. A+   Elle Make room on that shelf . . . for The Center of Everything.   Seattle Post-Intelligencer The magic was spun by Mona Simpson in Anywhere But Here and by Alice Seybold in The Lovely Bones and it is spun again by Moriarty.   Publishers Weekly Moriarty deftly treads the line between adolescence and adulthood, and insecurity and self-assurance, offering a moving portrait of life in blue-collar middle America.   Kirkus Reviews ....while Moriarty is no fancy prose stylist, she listens carefully to the speech of her characters, and Evelyn and Tina's voices, especially, ring true without sounding dopey or sentimental. Among the plethora of first novels tracking preteen daughters of sorry single mothers, Moriarty's gutsy opener is hard not to like.   Library Journal - Rachel Collins Moriarty builds an addictive and moving portrait of this poor, Midwestern girl in the Eighties, reminiscent of Dolores in Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone, so well realized that one forgets it is fiction and so infectious that one never wants to put it down, even after turning to the last page. Essential for fiction collections. Christina Schwartz This impressive debut is a marvelously satisfying story . . . Moriarty eschews tough questions . . . competing loves and loyalties of adolescence.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Caitlin H
Spectacular to be at 'The Center of Everything'
A very literal true love story of learning to let go and grow up. Life decisions coming fast outside of Evelyn's home as well in it with her special brother Samuel. But the ending leaves us wanting more. What does Laura Moriarty have in store for...   Read More

Rated of 5 by pamela
This is one of the best books I have ever read in my life, I couldn't put it down!!!I can't wait until Laura Moriarty's next book comes out!

Rated of 5 by Anonymous
This book has feeling, i'm both sad and happily reminiscing on my youth.
It forces you to look back and see the choices you made. I found myself feeling the emotions of the charactrers. I listen to a lot of books (if you listen, Julie Dretzin...   Read More

Rated of 5 by dmacand
What observant child/teenager hasn't been in Evelyn's head? Her questions and observations on authority, peers, religion and morals are poingnant and endearing.

Rated of 5 by apollock01
There is a time in life in which we try to make sense; with what is yet to come, who we are not and who and we wish to be. The Center of Everything is a true depiction of life choices and end results. This book is a wonderfully journey for all...   Read More

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