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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I thought this was a fun YA novel with an overall message that health is more important than size, and a great message about self-acceptance. I didn’t think it was too serious, which is maybe why I like YA novels so much -- they slip in things to make you think, but it’s wrapped in a fast-paced, easy-to-read story.
At its heart, this is a coming-of-age story about accepting oneself and looking beyond exterior labels to the person beneath, moving past one's history to create something new. The culmination isn't a big surprise, but where this book shines is in the characterizations: in lesser books, the Fat Girl's goal would be to lose weight to win over the boys; the gay characters would either be on a crusade to end discrimination everywhere or become the Fat Girl's Cause To End All Discrimination. Here, though? Yes, Dara is a Fat Girl, but it's not her whole identity. Yes, her friend is gay; yes, her sister is gay, but "gay" is not who they are, or even what they are. What could be labels as a shorthand to personality are more background details; they could just as easily have been "redheads" or "Canadian" for all it mattered. And that's an excellent thing--while they occasionally discussed the problems of being stereotyped for what they were, in Frazer's hands they were never treated as stereotypes.
(Disclosure: Meg and I went to library school together and I'm pleased to call her my friend--and chagrined that it took me this long to get around to reading her excellent book!)
(Disclosure: Meg and I went to library school together and I'm pleased to call her my friend--and chagrined that it took me this long to get around to reading her excellent book!)