Crazy Messy Beautiful

by Carrie Arcos Narrated by Michael Crouch

Overview

From National Book Award finalist Carrie Arcos--a fresh take on happily ever after, and friendship, that is anything but a love story.

When your namesake is Pablo Neruda-the greatest love poet of all time-finding “the one” should be easy. After all, sixteen-year-old aspiring artist Neruda Diaz has been in love many times before. So it's only a matter of time before someone loves him back.
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Callie could be that someone. She's creative and edgy, and nothing like the girls Neruda typically falls for, so when a school assignment brings them together, he is pleasantly surprised to learn they have a lot in common. With his true love in reach and his artistic ambitions on track, everything is finally coming together.
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But as Neruda begins to fall faster and harder than ever before, he is blindsided by the complicated nature of love-and art-in more ways than one. And when the relationships he's looked to for guidance threaten to implode, Neruda must confront the reality that love is crazier, messier, and more beautiful than he ever realized-and riskier, too, than simply saying the words.

Praise for Crazy Messy Beautiful:

"This satisfying and unconventional love story explores the various meanings of the word." --Kirkus Reviews

"Arcos has written a classic story of a budding artist finding out the reality behind the artifice, and does sowhile keeping a wonderful sense of humor." --Booklist
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"Arcos capably probes the mysterious without attempting to solve it as Neruda discovers the difference between crushing on someone he doesn't know and loving someone he does, learning that friendship, too, is a kind of love." --Publishers Weekly*

"With readily relatable characters who, nonetheless, surprise readers as they tackle life's many challenges and gifts, Crazy Messy Beautiful . . . explores the complexities of human emotions, aspirations, creativity, and relationships. This eminently readable book will appeal to male and female readers alike." --VOYA

"The thematic thread of love as work between flawed people is woven through both language and situations, its subtlety affording different readings; romantics like Neruda will empathize with his frustration and failures, while more pragmatic readers may feel wryly superior and even slightly amused at the ways his heightened expectations butt up against modern high school life and characters."--BCCB

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

11/28/2016
For 16-year-old Neruda Diaz, love is a mystery, maybe the mystery. He comes by his fixation honestly: he’s named after Chilean love poet Pablo Neruda, his parents are still in love, and he thinks that beautiful Autumn Cho might be the one for him. Then mystery turns tragic: Neruda’s parents’ marriage is less stable than he thought, and—like her predecessors—Autumn isn’t interested. Neruda gets to paint a mural at school, but has to work with a guy he hates, and he and a girl he barely knows have to interview each other for a class assignment. Arcos (There Will Come a Time) makes Neruda thoughtful and real, and Callie Leibowitz, that near stranger from school, is tough, funny, and interesting. Neruda is half Chilean, his Los Angeles is realistically diverse, and he’s a reflective, engaging protagonist. Arcos capably probes the mysterious without attempting to solve it as Neruda discovers the difference between crushing on someone he doesn’t know and loving someone he does, learning that friendship, too, is a kind of love. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

Praise for Crazy Messy Beautiful:

"This satisfying and unconventional love story explores the various meanings of the word." —Kirkus Reviews

"Arcos has written a classic story of a budding artist finding out the reality behind the artifice, and does sowhile keeping a wonderful sense of humor." —Booklist

"Arcos capably probes the mysterious without attempting to solve it as Neruda discovers the difference between crushing on someone he doesn’t know and loving someone he does, learning that friendship, too, is a kind of love." —Publishers Weekly

"With readily relatable characters who, nonetheless, surprise readers as they tackle life’s many challenges and gifts, Crazy Messy Beautiful . . . explores the complexities of human emotions, aspirations, creativity, and relationships. This eminently readable book will appeal to male and female readers alike." —VOYA 

"The thematic thread of love as work between flawed people is woven through both language and situations, its subtlety affording different readings; romantics like Neruda will empathize with his frustration and failures, while more pragmatic readers may feel wryly superior and even slightly amused at the ways his heightened expectations butt up against modern high school life and characters."—BCCB  

School Library Journal

03/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Neruda Wayne Diaz is a 16-year-old boy who is in love with Autumn Cho. He is named after the famed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Neruda doesn't let having dysgraphia, a learning disability that affects how a person processes information, prevent him from being the artist he knows he is destined to become. It is through his art that he understands the complexities of people, like his classmate and soon-to-be friend Callie. His English teacher Mr. Nelson teams up classmates, and each student has to research his or her partner. Neruda is forced to put his thoughts onto paper—the same way he did back in eighth grade with his imprisoned pen pal, Ezra. It is the task of processing information that begins to conflict with Neruda's emotions as he tries to understand himself vicariously through his namesake, all while he has a growing suspicion about his father's infidelity. He questions whether his true love is right in front of him versus the girl he has admired from afar. From the very beginning, the author will pull in readers in this page-turning story of love and friendship. The narrative is believably told from the point of view of a relatable teen who is really connected to himself and his family. It is refreshing to read about a boy whose quest for love is mature and poetic. Arcos serves up a captivating work that is recommend for anyone who enjoys a fresh take on love. VERDICT A strong choice for libraries serving teens.—Keisha Miller, South Orange Public Library, NJ

FEBRUARY 2017 - AudioFile

Narrator Michael Crouch portrays Neruda Diaz’s quest for romance as the 16-year-old imagines a love life like that of the Chilean poet for whom he was named, Pablo Neruda. The fictional Neruda has been sheltered by his loving parents, his devotion to art, and dreams of love. Crouch expresses both Neruda’s innocence and his horror when his reality is shattered as he discovers that his parents’ marriage is not stable, his artistic vision can be sabotaged, and his classmate, Callie, is more difficult to court than he’d imagined. Neruda’s reactions are confused and sometimes hurtful as he learns that he must experience life’s messiness before he can find its beauty and truth. Crouch’s dramatizations of minor characters add dimension to the story. In particular, his depiction of Callie makes her passionate nature vivid and Neruda’s attraction understandable. S.W. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2016-11-02
Neruda Diaz carries around his legendary namesake's poems, but they haven't helped him find the love he desperately seeks. Latino 16-year-old Neruda Diaz was named in tribute to his Chilean father and grandfather's favorite poet, Pablo Neruda. A talented portrait artist, Neruda is determined to achieve the kind of overwhelming love "The Poet" captured, but so far he's "unluckiest in love" and has fallen unrequitedly for eight different girls. When his English teacher assigns a biography project, Neruda ends up partnered with aloof, white classmate Callie Leibowitz, who turns out to love volleyball, classic movies, and makeup art. Their blossoming friendship makes Neruda wonder if Callie could be the one, but his concept of love begins to waver as he uncovers a family betrayal. Though less of an issues book than the author's previous titles (There Will Come a Time, 2014; Out of Reach, 2012), there's still plenty of thought-provoking substance to Arcos' third. The focus on the power of friendship (Neruda's best friend, Mexican-American Ezra, is a recently released ex-con ready to restart his life), art (visual, literary, even makeup), and family relationships makes this considerably more layered than the typical high school romance. Neruda is a great example of the sort of thoughtful and artistic male protagonist teen literature really needs. This satisfying and unconventional love story explores the various meanings of the word. (Fiction. 13-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169529531
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	02/07/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

the infinite ache

Her name was Ella. She had no other name. Ella was first, middle, and last, readily on my tongue and mind. She was older than me and a good head taller, but that didn’t matter. She was my world from eight a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday.
 
During class, Ella pulled me, as if with an invisible string, from stuffed animals to picture books to swings to a small sandbox. I killed dragons. I rescued cats. I held babies and played house. I was the prince to her princess. We celebrated with feasts of crackers, both goldfish and graham. We shared cut-up apples and slices of oranges like they were candy. We visited outer space on secret missions. We explored uncharted lands. The truth was I would have traveled with her anywhere.
 
My Ella.
 
I can still see her—straight shoulder-length black hair, bangs like freshly cut grass across her forehead, her brown arm in a cast during those last months, wide smile with two missing front bottom teeth. Her blue flowered dress dirty from playing. Her knees red and skinned from falling off her scooter. Broken scabs scattered across to reveal smooth white scars underneath.
 
Like all tragic love stories, she left me . . . for kindergarten at a different school. On our last day together, Ella gave me a kiss on my cheek. I was embarrassed and ran and hid from her, refusing to come out and say good-bye.
 
I never saw her again.
 
I blame Ella. She was the one who first showed me what a terribly beautiful and cruel thing love could be. I also blame The Poet. He gave words to my anguish and made me acutely aware of this infinite ache, a deep soul longing that came sometimes in the dark and lingered in the light. His words picked at a wound I didn’t even know was there until I read them. Now it’s impossible to close.
 
But Ella . . . Ella opened my heart and then broke it. Maybe I’ve been trying to fix it ever since.

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