Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Why Can’t Relationships Be Like Pizza
SERIES: The Pizza Chronicles
AUTHOR: Andy V Roamer
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 208 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 15 2021
BLURB:
As RV enters sophomore year, his friendships and relationships create more questions than answers. RV still cares for Bobby, but Bobby seems a different, more distant person. RV’s best friend Carole is distracted by the ups and downs in her relationships with her French boyfriends, while RV’s new friend Mark is more focused on his family’s troubles. School is a mixed bag. RV enjoys the Spanish club he has joined, which is run by his beautiful Spanish teacher, Señorita Sanchez. But he struggles with other subjects and annoying teachers and always has to watch out for the school bullies who seem to know how to stay under the detention radar.
As always, RV’s former teacher and mentor, Mr. Aniso, is there for advice, especially when near-tragedy strikes and RV needs Mr. Aniso’s counsel to stay strong and provide help where it’s needed most.
REVIEW:
The third book in this series is easily as good as the previous two. If you haven’t read books one and two then you need to go back and do so before you read this one. The Pizza Chronicles is a true series and need to be read in order as many things won’t make sense if you don’t.
In many ways, RV and his family have moved on. His parents are now American Citizens and so, for RV at least, the focus on Lithuanian identity has eased somewhat. RV’s mother, at least, is throwing herself into the American dream by discovering militancy and her involvement in a protest about a closing church is the latest bone of contention between her and RV’s father.
On the other hand, things between RV and his brother are improving and moving toward the friendship RV has always wanted. While this is not achieved by the end of the book things are definitely moving in that way. Family is still a very big part of the story and various themes and angles are examined throughout, In particular when RV becomes closer to Mark and hears more of Mark’s family situation.
RV’s relationship with Bobby has taken a slow nose dive and crashes when Bobby is hurt playing football. They both say things on the spur of the moment that causes RV to face some deeply hidden parts of himself and re evaluate his life view. Again, it is Mr Aniso who helps him uncover the way forward.
As usual, this book addresses some hard themes and faces them head-on. For a young adult book, and I think this series continues to lie squarely within that genre, it doesn’t shy away from the hard things, but instead confronts them in a way that is very much from the teenage POV as RV continues to struggle with his own issues while learning to understand and respects others.
I have been a fan of this series from the start and continue to be so. There are some pretty big threads left hanging and I am looking forward to the next book in the series to tie some of them up. Again, I strongly recommend this book for the younger audience and also for an adult audience who are prepared to allow themselves to see through teenage eyes and not approach it with the expectation that the characters act like adults.
RATING: 
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