Scrambled Eggs at Midnight

“My mother is a wench. It says so on her w-2″ and so starts this quirky novel.

Calliope and her mother are on the move a lot. Her mom makes jewelry which she sells at Renaissance Faires along with serving as a wench. They have a very strained relationship, to say the least. Cal’s mom, Delores, has the tendency to run from things. She packed Cal up a few years back, taking her from her loving father and stable home life. Cal has been taking care of Delores ever since.

Eliot lives with his mom and dad outside of Asheville, NC. They run a “Christian” weight-loss camp. “The Dad,” as Eliot calls him, broke his back years ago and from that experience he turned to Jesus. Eliot and his mom have been basically unhappy ever since. show more Their family life has deteriorated. The fun care free times are gone. His dad has cashed in on Christianity and now everything is about making more money.

When Cal and her mom move to the Asheville area for a Renaissance Faire, Eliot and Cal meet and they connect immediately. Their love story is very sweet. They help one another through the turmoil of being a teenager in an adult controlled world.

One aspect that I thought was interesting, without giving too much away, was it showed how in many situations parents create the illusion that their children have some say in important life matters, when in actuality the parents have already made up their minds and have no intention of hearing what their children have to say. I think it’s interesting and wonder why a lot of us parents don’t listen to our children more often.

I really enjoyed the narration from the point of view of both Calliope and Eliot. Each chapter switches from one character to the other and it makes for good reading.

I think a lot of teens would enjoy this book and I give it 3.75 out of 5 stars. show less

I love this unique love story of these two "outcast" teens (and not even the stereotypical outcasts, which makes it even better, they're more like...Stargirl outcasts). There's nothing here I've been in a YA book before, and the uniqueness of it all is magical. Jesus fat camp boy and daughter of a Renaissance Faire wench=a perfect couple, who would have thought, right? The dialogue is great, it's both fresh and realistic, it really reminded me of Juno, without the fakeness, you know? It's actual stuff you can imagine people saying, but it's still so POWERFUL, I must have half the book dog-eared with quotes =P So many good philosophical musings from both Eliot and Cal! Love their thoughts and how authentic they feel (with that one show more exception of the quote implying that they are too young to be nostalgic, that was the giveaway that this wasn't actually written from the POV of teens XD) But anyways, the writing is great, the characters are amazing, it all comes together to form the perfect story.

**SPOILERS**
The ending was definitely a surprise for me, didn't see that coming at all. Very twisted, felt somewhat rushed, but still a great read. I hated that last-minute cliffhangery thing, where you're just like, oh no! She's going to leave, she's going to leave and there's probably only a chapter left and this is going to end soon, nooo! So, it's quite a relief when that doesn't happen, but at the same time, wish there'd been more time to dedicate to expanding that part of the story. Glad the Jesus Fat Camp closed down, that was just...eerie. Everything really turned out for the best, and I couldn't have wished for a better ending :) show less

This story is told from two different perspectives. Calliope is sick of traveling all over with her mom and just wants a place to call home. Elliot is unhappy working for his dad's summer camp. When Calliope's mom ends up at a Renaissance festival in Elliot's town, the two meet and find love. But what will happen when Calliope's mom gets the urge to move on again? This book had some beautiful language, but I'd give the story a shoulder-shrugging "Eh."

I think this is the better of the two Barkley & Halper books that I’ve read. I like the juxtaposition of Eliot’s and Calliope’s stories. Even with their circumstances in their lives, you really get the sense that these are two very lonely teenagers who need something. While I’m not a fan of the “Free spirited mother who acts more like the teenager” trope, this book makes Cal’s mom and their interactions work very well. The dialogue seems a little too adult and trying to be hip at times, but I still really enjoy this book.

Though at times bittersweet, Scrambled Eggs at Midnight is really a perfect piece of comfort food. Cal and Eliot have lives that, for lack of a better word, suck. Their paths collide and their lives are temporarily changed for the better. Instead of being alone, they have each other, but Cal's mother wants them to move and the peace and happiness she's known is about to shatter. Barkley (Eliot) and Hepler (Cal) seamlessly blend writing styles to create an enjoyable, sweet and often very funny YA novel.

Calliope has spent the last 4 years constantly moving from one place to another with her unconcerned mother. Eliot is the son of a famous evangelist who runs a summer camp for overweight kids to 'get fit with Jesus'. The two fifteen year olds meet when Cal's mom takes work as a serving wench at the local Renaissance Faire. Both Cal and Eliot miss the way their families used to be and long for a return to a time that is gone. Cal knows she won't be able to stay for long and though she tries not to get attached to the town and the people she meets, she finds that this latest move has brought her to a place that she could call home. This is a coming of age novel told with slow pacing in alternating chapters by both Eliot and Cal. The show more romance is sweet but the real strength of the novel lies in all of the relationships and the way they explore the themes of love, friendship and family. show less

Calliope (or Cal as she calls herself) wants nothing more than to stay put; to stop traveling cross-country with her mother, sleeping in a tent, and abandoning all belongings whenever they pull up stakes. Meanwhile, eliot misses the happy times he left behind when his father decided to open a camp for kids looking to lose weight and find Jesus. when Cal and eliot meet by chance, they feel an immediate connection. together they must face their isolation, the threat of yet another move, and the deepening of eliot’s father’s obsession. in their case, love just might be everything it’s cracked up to be. I loved this book. I found myself having scrambled eggs at midnight while reading the book. Something about the title made me hungary.