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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I signed up to be a part of this book tour because I was an obese teen in high school. While nowhere near as tall as Biggie, and therefore not weighing as much, I remember how terrible gym class was. I can still clearly feel the terror that was having to play volleyball and having everybody laugh at you. Sullivan did an excellent job of capturing this emotion, even though Biggie tried his best to hide how he felt.
I also enjoyed reading about how Biggie had his big plan to win the game, get the girl and be awesome. Of course it didn’t go as he hoped, but the entire plan was exactly like how we think as teenagers. Once again, I admire the author’s ability to capture these types of emotion in words on a page.
After reading this book, I discovered that the author had originally written it as a short story but was urged to continue on. I am glad he did so but I can see how the piece that began as the short story would have stood by itself. I don’t know if it was published or not in that form but I think it would be a good piece to discuss in high school literature courses. I also feel that the book would be a way to open up a discussion about bullying, regarding how Biggie is treated by his classmates.
I received a copy of this book to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while reading this novel.
I also enjoyed reading about how Biggie had his big plan to win the game, get the girl and be awesome. Of course it didn’t go as he hoped, but the entire plan was exactly like how we think as teenagers. Once again, I admire the author’s ability to capture these types of emotion in words on a page.
After reading this book, I discovered that the author had originally written it as a short story but was urged to continue on. I am glad he did so but I can see how the piece that began as the short story would have stood by itself. I don’t know if it was published or not in that form but I think it would be a good piece to discuss in high school literature courses. I also feel that the book would be a way to open up a discussion about bullying, regarding how Biggie is treated by his classmates.
I received a copy of this book to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while reading this novel.
Copy provided by Open Road Media via NetGalley for discussion in a future column on weight issues & bullying in YA. Not really about the latter, but solidly about the former. This is top shelf sports fiction, with shades of Henry IV woven throughout. In this case, Falstaff and Hal are merely two aspects of the same boy, Henry (aka "Biggie"), a gifted, obese heir to sports royalty in his small Iowa town who has never taken interest in sports or standing out among his peers until he discovers almost by accident a nascent talent for pitching. Leaving behind the comfortable margins of adolescent society for the uncomfortable spotlight brings Henry many new challenges. A climactic moment of unguarded self-revelation about Henry's complicated father-son dynamic put a lump in my throat.
Loved it. Very complex and realistic theme and conflict but also just enough baseball to keep a sports fan in. Ended super strong.
The writing in Biggie by Derek E. Sullivan is very uneven. In his acknowledgements, the author says he originally wrote a short story about an overweight teen who throww a perfect game of Wiffle ball in gym class. That portion of the book was for me without question the best part.
The ending, which takes the Wiffle ball experience to a higher level, was very hard to believe, as was the main character’s encounter with his long-absent father. Biggie also quits the team and is taken back by his coach for the Big Game without too much fuss, and I did not find that realistic.
I enjoyed the Iowa setting and the baseball theme in the plot, and the author does write some beautiful lines. For example:
“To avoid being hit by spoken bullets, I have decided to never point that gun at anyone else. I keep my mouth shut at all costs.” (p. 3 of the advance reader copy)
“[The boys] walk out. A few of them look over at me on the bleachers. They probably think I’m early for a meeting of the nerds or geeks or loners. Wait. Do loners have meetings? I think I’m losing my mind or having my first panic attack.” (p. 45 of the advance reader copy)
At times Biggie’s voice sounded very real and natural, and at other times he was a little too self-aware (as often happens with first person narrators). Biggie and his stepfather have a troubled relationship, but the stepfather is not a mean stereotype. It is also refreshing to have a fat kid protagonist, and I’m sure this book will find its readers. It’s a decent debut novel. The author shows promise.
I read an advance reader copy of Biggie.
The ending, which takes the Wiffle ball experience to a higher level, was very hard to believe, as was the main character’s encounter with his long-absent father. Biggie also quits the team and is taken back by his coach for the Big Game without too much fuss, and I did not find that realistic.
I enjoyed the Iowa setting and the baseball theme in the plot, and the author does write some beautiful lines. For example:
“To avoid being hit by spoken bullets, I have decided to never point that gun at anyone else. I keep my mouth shut at all costs.” (p. 3 of the advance reader copy)
“[The boys] walk out. A few of them look over at me on the bleachers. They probably think I’m early for a meeting of the nerds or geeks or loners. Wait. Do loners have meetings? I think I’m losing my mind or having my first panic attack.” (p. 45 of the advance reader copy)
At times Biggie’s voice sounded very real and natural, and at other times he was a little too self-aware (as often happens with first person narrators). Biggie and his stepfather have a troubled relationship, but the stepfather is not a mean stereotype. It is also refreshing to have a fat kid protagonist, and I’m sure this book will find its readers. It’s a decent debut novel. The author shows promise.
I read an advance reader copy of Biggie.
I really enjoyed this book! I like that Biggie didn’t reach all of his goals. I like that Biggie still found balance between his life of silence and being “not weird.” Many times, everything gets wrapped up to neatly in the end; not this book.
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol
3.5 STARS
At over 320 pounds, Henry Abbott is not only the biggest kid in his high school, he's also the one made fun of the most. After all, his nickname since childhood has been Biggie--even teachers and his stepdad call him that. But after a fluke at the beginning of the school year that results in him throwing a perfect game of wiffle ball in PE one day, Biggie decides that this will be his year; he will lose weight, be the star pitcher on the baseball team, and finally get the girl he's been in love with for as long as he can remember, Annabelle.
Biggie makes good progress, but just as it seems he's within reach of all his dreams, he realizes that you can't make plans involving other people, because you definitely cannot predict what they will do. Biggie is thrown several curveballs, and it's up to him to pull himself through if he wants to finish out the year his way.
I have to say that Biggie is one of the single most frustrating characters I have stepped into the shoes of. He complains about how his life is and how people treat him, but he is the only thing in his way most of the time. He makes some decisions I just can't understand. Just WHY would you tell your dream girl you've been stalking her email for the past several years? Even Biggie knows he's making a mistake as the words leave his mouth. It also takes him much longer than it should to see that the reason he doesn't have any friends isn't because he's overweight; it's because he's quite arrogant and gives off the impression that he believes he's better than everyone else in town.
While I appreciate that Biggie did put in all the hard work that led to his weight loss, I want to state to young readers that in my opinion, the amount of weight loss shown is not realistic. It's stated that in one month Biggie loses 28 pounds--this should not and will not happen to anyone who's just cutting calories and exercising, no matter how hard they work. I just don't want teens who read this book to think that they too can lose that amount of weight in so short a time.
I liked the way the author showed the relationship between Biggie and his younger brother, but I wish I could have seen more between Biggie and his parents. There is a sort of emotional scene between Biggie and his stepdad towards the end of the book, but other than that there's really not much interaction between he and his parents at all.
If you can get past Biggie's often Debbie Downer type attitude, there's a good story here with a very important message. I believe a lot of kids will be able to relate to the main character, and that's always a very important goal in a YA novel.
At over 320 pounds, Henry Abbott is not only the biggest kid in his high school, he's also the one made fun of the most. After all, his nickname since childhood has been Biggie--even teachers and his stepdad call him that. But after a fluke at the beginning of the school year that results in him throwing a perfect game of wiffle ball in PE one day, Biggie decides that this will be his year; he will lose weight, be the star pitcher on the baseball team, and finally get the girl he's been in love with for as long as he can remember, Annabelle.
Biggie makes good progress, but just as it seems he's within reach of all his dreams, he realizes that you can't make plans involving other people, because you definitely cannot predict what they will do. Biggie is thrown several curveballs, and it's up to him to pull himself through if he wants to finish out the year his way.
I have to say that Biggie is one of the single most frustrating characters I have stepped into the shoes of. He complains about how his life is and how people treat him, but he is the only thing in his way most of the time. He makes some decisions I just can't understand. Just WHY would you tell your dream girl you've been stalking her email for the past several years? Even Biggie knows he's making a mistake as the words leave his mouth. It also takes him much longer than it should to see that the reason he doesn't have any friends isn't because he's overweight; it's because he's quite arrogant and gives off the impression that he believes he's better than everyone else in town.
While I appreciate that Biggie did put in all the hard work that led to his weight loss, I want to state to young readers that in my opinion, the amount of weight loss shown is not realistic. It's stated that in one month Biggie loses 28 pounds--this should not and will not happen to anyone who's just cutting calories and exercising, no matter how hard they work. I just don't want teens who read this book to think that they too can lose that amount of weight in so short a time.
I liked the way the author showed the relationship between Biggie and his younger brother, but I wish I could have seen more between Biggie and his parents. There is a sort of emotional scene between Biggie and his stepdad towards the end of the book, but other than that there's really not much interaction between he and his parents at all.
If you can get past Biggie's often Debbie Downer type attitude, there's a good story here with a very important message. I believe a lot of kids will be able to relate to the main character, and that's always a very important goal in a YA novel.
WELL this is just exhausting and unpleasant to get through and I'll admit I didn't read the very end because I just couldn't take it anymore. At first I was on-board. The story's main conceit reminiscent of [b:Loner|27276325|Loner|Teddy Wayne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473606506l/27276325._SY75_.jpg|47328222] in that the main character is heavily, heavily flawed in a very incel-flavored sort of way, with the addition of extreme perfectionism. And baseball. Lots of baseball.
Aha, I said to myself, this is going to be a story about Biggie realizing that his goals and sense of self are very misguided and he should work on that and treat people in his life better and demand to be treated well in return. And it's sort of that, but mostly just him being a loser, getting mad at himself for being a loser, and then getting mad at other people for him being a loser.
The way that this kid interacts with other people and particularly girls is disturbing in a way that I know for a fact is intentional but still made me grimace repeatedly. Women aren't human beings with lives of their own, they are feeemales to be creeped on, manipulated, and won. It's very, very hard to root for someone who thinks that it's acceptable to hack into someone's email and read their private messages for years in anticipation of dating them.
Is he correct in thinking that it sucks for the two girls that he's interested in to go out with men that he perceives as "bad for them?" Maybe, but that's their prerogative and none of his business. He is not nearly a good enough friend to either of them for it to be his place to interject with what he thinks about who they date.
Again, it just becomes a miserable slog by the end. You want to take this kid by the shoulders and shake him. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for him to have a moment of self-reflection and go, hey, maybe I have a lot of stuff to work through and I need to stop taking it out on other people. But nope! Nope!
There are also weight issues involved in this book, but it's not really as prevalent as the title would lead you to believe. He more or less montages his way out of his obesity and risk of diabetes halfway through the book due to a fixation on baseball training.
I didn't talk about it much because frankly it's boring (to me, at least, it might hook someone else), but there is a lot of baseball in this book. The main character wants to win a perfect game of baseball. This in and of itself is a foolish, outlandish goal to have, right up there with fantasizing about things playing out perfectly with the girl he wants to date. He doesn't get either of those things, thankfully. Maybe in that way it's realistic, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating to witness him bemoan not reaching those goals over and over again.
Aha, I said to myself, this is going to be a story about Biggie realizing that his goals and sense of self are very misguided and he should work on that and treat people in his life better and demand to be treated well in return. And it's sort of that, but mostly just him being a loser, getting mad at himself for being a loser, and then getting mad at other people for him being a loser.
The way that this kid interacts with other people and particularly girls is disturbing in a way that I know for a fact is intentional but still made me grimace repeatedly. Women aren't human beings with lives of their own, they are feeemales to be creeped on, manipulated, and won. It's very, very hard to root for someone who thinks that it's acceptable to hack into someone's email and read their private messages for years in anticipation of dating them.
Is he correct in thinking that it sucks for the two girls that he's interested in to go out with men that he perceives as "bad for them?" Maybe, but that's their prerogative and none of his business. He is not nearly a good enough friend to either of them for it to be his place to interject with what he thinks about who they date.
Again, it just becomes a miserable slog by the end. You want to take this kid by the shoulders and shake him. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for him to have a moment of self-reflection and go, hey, maybe I have a lot of stuff to work through and I need to stop taking it out on other people. But nope! Nope!
There are also weight issues involved in this book, but it's not really as prevalent as the title would lead you to believe. He more or less montages his way out of his obesity and risk of diabetes halfway through the book due to a fixation on baseball training.
I didn't talk about it much because frankly it's boring (to me, at least, it might hook someone else), but there is a lot of baseball in this book. The main character wants to win a perfect game of baseball. This in and of itself is a foolish, outlandish goal to have, right up there with fantasizing about things playing out perfectly with the girl he wants to date. He doesn't get either of those things, thankfully. Maybe in that way it's realistic, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating to witness him bemoan not reaching those goals over and over again.
A great read for teens in high school. This heartwarming story is about a teen who is struggling to live up to family expectations, and also develop his own self identity. A true inspiration on how to handle the toughest years of your life- the teens.