There is also a torn Halloween poster that Al put up-and Ed tore down to write his number for Min. The breakup box continues with a movie ticket from their first date a vintage poster from the movie theater that Ed stole for her a matchbox from the restaurant they went to after the movie a pinhole camera he bought for her (while mocking her interest in old movies) a note that Ed left for Min, telling her she was crazy about him. She first met Ed at Al’s “Bitter Sixteen” party, where she got the bottle caps-from the first beers she and Ed ever drank together. Her relationship with Al suffered while she and Ed were dating, but now they are as close as ever, and he is supporting her while she sheds her baggage. She is being taken to Ed’s house by her best friend, Al. She has realized that she and Ed are very different people-she, a studious high school junior he, a popular senior basketball star who is already looking ahead to college-and that they should never have been together at all. She is accompanying the box of items with a letter, in which she goes item by item and tells him what they meant to her, as well as how they played a role in the beginning or end of their relationship.

However, now that it has been awhile since the end of their relationship, Min is ready to get rid of the box of items and return them to Ed. Their five-week relationship was intensely passionate but short-lived, and Min kept every item that meant something to her from that period, hiding them in her closet to keep her mother from spying on her and asking her about the relationship. As Why We Broke Up begins, Min Green is writing a letter to her ex-boyfriend, Ed Slaterton, explaining the reasons they broke up. It was given an unconventional promotional campaign on Tumblr, where people were encouraged to submit their own break-up stories.

Printz Honor from the American Library Association, and was optioned for a feature film, which is currently in development. Exploring themes of friendship, love, infatuation, lies, regret, identity, and the way life imitates art, Why We Broke Up was critically acclaimed as a genuine, honest take on adolescent love and a welcome departure from Handler’s past work, which was geared towards younger readers. The letter explains the purpose of each object and then narrating the rise and downfall of the relationship. The story takes the form of a letter written by Min to Ed explaining why they broke up and is accompanied by a box full of minor objects that played a significant role in their relationship, ranging from bottle caps to a box of matches to a concert ticket.

Why We Broke Up (2011), a coming-of-age novel written by American author Daniel Handler and illustrated by Israeli illustrator and designer Maira Kalman, chronicles the five-week relationship between teenager Min Green and her high-school basketball star boyfriend, Ed Slaterton.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler