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The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things - Carolyn Mackler
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
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3.55 55
An overweight teen is sure that she’s the weakest link in her high-powered family - until her handsome, athletic, star-student brother has a shocking fall from grace.Fifteen-year-old Virginia Shreves has a larger-than-average body and a plus-size inferiority complex. She lives on the Web, snarfs... show more
An overweight teen is sure that she’s the weakest link in her high-powered family - until her handsome, athletic, star-student brother has a shocking fall from grace.Fifteen-year-old Virginia Shreves has a larger-than-average body and a plus-size inferiority complex. She lives on the Web, snarfs junk food, and follows the "Fat Girl Code of Conduct." Her stuttering best friend has just moved to Walla Walla (of all places). Her new companion, Froggy Welsh the Fourth (real name), has just succeeded in getting his hand up her shirt, and she lives in fear that he’ll look underneath. Then there are the other Shreves: Mom, the successful psychologist and exercise fiend; Dad, a top executive who ogles thin women on TV; and older siblings Anaïs and rugby god Byron, both of them slim and brilliant. Delete Virginia, and the Shreves would be a picture-perfect family. Or so she’s convinced. And then a shocking phone call changes everything. With irreverent humor, insight, and surprising gravity, Carolyn Mackler creates an endearingly blunt heroine whose story will speak to every teen who struggles with family expectations - and serve as a welcome reminder that the most impressive achievement is to be true to yourself.
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9780763659790 (0763659797)
Publisher: Candlewick
Pages no: 244
Edition language: English
Bookstores:
Community Reviews
Out of the Blue
Out of the Blue rated it
Froggy Welsh the Fourth is trying to get up my shirt.This is the third Monday that he's come over to my apartment after school. Every week we go a little further, and today, on September twenty-third at 3:17 P.M., he's begun inching his fingers across my stomach and towards my bra."Virginia?"I'm not...
FefferBooks
FefferBooks rated it
3.0 The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things
...not bad. Not amazing, either. Virginia's actually a decent YA character, though she falls a little flat at times. I appreciated Mackler's willingness to tackle the subject of overweight as a teenager, and thought she handled it well. The emotional aspects of Virginia's self-acceptance and -expres...
TeaPartyPrincess
TeaPartyPrincess rated it
1.0 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
If I have to hear Virginia's whinging narrative just once more, I think I'll slam my head against a brick wall.Good concept, but not executed well at all.Virginia, the plus size protagonist, complained about every aspect of her life but did nothing about it - except for a dodgy crash-diet - until th...
PennyG
PennyG rated it
3.0 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
Barely three stars. Look, I like the message the author is trying to convey, but I think Melina Marchetta does it better in Saving Francesca. Heck, a lot of other authors did it better. But Carolyn Mackler did an okay job. Read Saving Francesca!
lauredhel
lauredhel rated it
4.0 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
A well-written YA coming-of-age tale, that segues to an ending nowhere near the faily or trite ending I feared. Warnings for sexual violence and disordered eating/body image (dealt with well).
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