Artifacts of An Ex
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In the tradition of Jenny Han and Emma Lord, Jennifer Chen’s Artifacts of an Ex is a story of love, art, and finding your way when everything you know has changed completely.
When Chloe Chang gets dumped via USPS after moving across the county from NYC to LA, her first instinct is to throw her box of memories in the garbage. Instead, she starts buying other teenagers’ break-up boxes to create an art exhibit, Heartifacts. Opening night is going great, until she spots Daniel Kwak illicitly filming his best friend’s reaction to his ex’s box. When she tries to stop him, an intense discussion ends up launching a creative partnership and friendship… and a major crush for Chloe.
There’s just one problem: Daniel is dead set on not being another rebound.
Five times he’s been the guy who makes the girls he’s dating realize they want to get back with their ex. And he refuses for there to be a sixth. She insists she’s over her ex, but when he shows up unexpectedly with his new girlfriend, it turns out Daniel was right. She isn’t ready for a new relationship.
She throws herself into making Heartifacts successful, but flashy influencers threaten her original vision of the exhibit. To create the exhibit she’s always wanted, Chloe needs to go back to basics, learn to work with artists in a more collaborative way, and discover what love can be. Only then will she convince Daniel she’s truly ready for everything they could be to one another.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A teen uses her heartbreak to produce a public art exhibit in Chen's jubilant debut. Sixteen-year-old Taiwanese American artist Chloe Chang isn't thrilled when she's forced to leave her boyfriend Jake behind in N.Y.C. after her family moves to Los Angeles. But her heartbreak gets worse when she receives a breakup package from him. On her way to trash the box of simple mementos, inspiration strikes, and Chloe determines to channel her grief into a new project. She puts out an ad offering to buy "breakup objects" from other heartbroken teens and books a gallery to showcase her exhibit, Heartifacts. She also sets into motion Operation Get Back Together, a five-step plan to win Jake back. When Chloe meets Korean American teen filmmaker Daniel Kwak, she develops an immediate and intense crush. But she's dead set on reuniting with Jake, and Daniel has been a rebound too many times to want to pursue anything serious. Richly detailed prose makes for an amorous atmosphere, while Chloe's artistic eye and determined, optimistic first-person POV renders a vivid world in this lighthearted romance. Ages 13–up.
