Happy Endings Are All Alike by Sandra Scoppettone

Happy Endings Are All Alike

5.5

Storyline

4.0/10

Queer Representation

5.0/10

Writing

7.5/10

Pros

• Happy moments
• Well developed characters
• Supportive characters

Cons

• Lack of queer voice
• Highly homophobic
• Queer suffering

 Title: Happy Endings Are All Alike

Author: Sandra Scoppettone

Original Publication Date: 1978

Original Publisher:

Page Length: 200

Queer Representation: 2 teenage lesbian protagonists

An early queer young adult book that moves beyond the two romantic leads to show the supposed impact of being queer on an entire small town. 

Memorable Quote: “And so what if happy endings didn’t exist? Happy moments did.”

REVIEW:

The heart of this novel lies in the Scoppettone’s ability to make dynamic and interesting characters. Jaret and Peggy initially disliked each other, but when their mutual friend forced them into the same room, they quickly became inseparable. It was not long after that they realized they were in love with each other. While they know that they must keep their relationship a secret, all they want is to be able to hold hands and watch the fireworks like everyone else. The novel opens with the realization that Jaret’s mother has learned of the girls’ relationship by reading the letters that they have been sending one another. She is accepting of the relationship, or at least tries to be, but agrees to keep it a secret from Jaret’s father and brother. Peggy’s sister, on the other hand, is disgusted and disturbed by the relationship and constantly threatens to tell her father whenever Peggy does or says something she does not like.

Faced with the world around them and the approaching end of summer that means going away to separate colleges, the girls try to enjoy as much time together as they can. However their happy ending gets threatened when an unknown male antagonist takes an interest in Jaret and begins to pursue her, even going as far as to follow her around. The result of this pursuit leads the girls to realize what it would be like for everyone to find out about them and brings the future of their relationship into question.

While Scoppettone’s writing is quite enjoyable and her characters are all dynamic, it is difficult to get past all of the negativity that surrounds two girls who simply want to be happy together. In fact Scoppettone seems almost to be more interested in their suffering than in their happiness. She describes some of the most painful moments for the girls in great detail and glances over many of the happier ones. While most of the story is written in third person, the novel’s antagonist is given his own voice and the ability to tell his own tale in first-person. Despite the book’s open ending and focus on “happy moments,” it is clearly still the product of a time period in which queer characters in young adult literature had to suffer because of their queerness. As Scoppettone states plainly in the novel, there are no such things as happy endings… at least not for queer characters in the 1970s.