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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Quick read. Not bad. Don't be put off by the first few sentences..... the whole book is not a hormone-charged account of a teenage girl's life.
I was kinda bored while reading this book, partly because I read the sequel first so I kind of knew what was going to happen. But also because barely anything happened.
So I had the joy of rereading Virginia Shreve's story and it still touched me quite a bit. I first read this in middle school or early high school and related a lot with Virginia's descriptions of feeling isolated and wondering how a boy could ever love her. I felt bad for Virginia because her family didn't seem to care about her or accept her for who she is, they always compared her to her older siblings. I related to that as well, I spent a long time being held up in comparison to older family members, I was different less social and more focused on reading.
I reread this now and still connect with it. I also read this now with a deeper understanding of rape culture and take this in as what it is, Virginia's own feminist awakening. After her brother date rapes his friend, Virginia and her family's lives change dramatically. Virginia seems to be the only one who is holding her brother responsible or thinks he did something wrong. This is her journey of overcoming this incident and coming in to herself.
This is an important read ala Speak (though I would say Speak is a must read and this is a step below that). This book is serious but has its fun moments too, the book held up ten years later.
I reread this now and still connect with it. I also read this now with a deeper understanding of rape culture and take this in as what it is, Virginia's own feminist awakening. After her brother date rapes his friend, Virginia and her family's lives change dramatically. Virginia seems to be the only one who is holding her brother responsible or thinks he did something wrong. This is her journey of overcoming this incident and coming in to herself.
This is an important read ala Speak (though I would say Speak is a must read and this is a step below that). This book is serious but has its fun moments too, the book held up ten years later.
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).
So funny and good. Some parts are truly difficult to read - Virginia's experience with fatphobia is no joke. Experiencing her family's cruelty alongside her was really troubling at points. But ultimately the story was really uplifting and empowering, one that I'm surprised and a little disappointed that I didn't read earlier. Highly anticipating the upcoming sequel!
2.5 A very quick contemporary read, but in the end I just had a lot of problems with the book. I feel like the main character had a lot going on mental health wise and none of those problems are really addressed at all and by the end she is magically better.
I have an admission to make; this book was sitting on my shelf for two months. Its poor, pink spine was crying out for me to read it, despite my ever growing review pile. I relented...and proceeded to devour it.
This book is deceptively simple. It doesn’t blow you away with forced humour, adjectives or revelations that make you pause. Instead it paints a clear, piercingly clear portrait of what it is like to be the fat girl. The invisibility, the crippling self doubt, the familial pressure, incessant stares, bullying and the eating of one’s feelings.
Now onto heavier issues, Byron’s date rape. I have always wondered when watching Law and Order: SVU what is must be like when your brother or father is the perpetrator of this kind of appalling crime. Shame, denial, anger? He’s still family but he’s betrayed Virginia’s gender - betrayed her rights and her trust by exploiting a fellow female. I think the addition of this plot point made it rise above what could have been considered a frothy girl fest. But readers know that this book wouldn’t have been that, with or without the Byron subplot. Virginia assertive stance to her brother in the closing chapters was near brilliant.
I was with Virginia with her whole misconception of Froggy. Was she being unfair and presumptuous in assuming he wanted a secret pashfest? Yes, but I would have thought that too. But really, what was she to think? Big girls are conditioned to think they aren’t worthy and that poor esteem in turn creates self fulfilling prophecies.
Freedom to be one’s self is a great right. And one that Virginia snatched back. Once she had finally broken free of her self-important, denial ridden mother’s restraints, Virginia was able to breath for the first time. I felt like cheering aloud...but didn’t as that would be weird.
Carolyn Mackler has a written a truly honest, candid and insightful look into the life of big girl (both in personality and in size). Her pacing along with the burgeoning confidence of Virginia and her ascertaining of independence felt real. I want to commend her, on her creation of this character and her world, wholeheartedly. I can’t help but think that this novel may have made many girls feel less alone and more empowered. Colour me impressed and hand me another Mackler!
This book is deceptively simple. It doesn’t blow you away with forced humour, adjectives or revelations that make you pause. Instead it paints a clear, piercingly clear portrait of what it is like to be the fat girl. The invisibility, the crippling self doubt, the familial pressure, incessant stares, bullying and the eating of one’s feelings.
Now onto heavier issues, Byron’s date rape. I have always wondered when watching Law and Order: SVU what is must be like when your brother or father is the perpetrator of this kind of appalling crime. Shame, denial, anger? He’s still family but he’s betrayed Virginia’s gender - betrayed her rights and her trust by exploiting a fellow female. I think the addition of this plot point made it rise above what could have been considered a frothy girl fest. But readers know that this book wouldn’t have been that, with or without the Byron subplot. Virginia assertive stance to her brother in the closing chapters was near brilliant.
I was with Virginia with her whole misconception of Froggy. Was she being unfair and presumptuous in assuming he wanted a secret pashfest? Yes, but I would have thought that too. But really, what was she to think? Big girls are conditioned to think they aren’t worthy and that poor esteem in turn creates self fulfilling prophecies.
Freedom to be one’s self is a great right. And one that Virginia snatched back. Once she had finally broken free of her self-important, denial ridden mother’s restraints, Virginia was able to breath for the first time. I felt like cheering aloud...but didn’t as that would be weird.
Carolyn Mackler has a written a truly honest, candid and insightful look into the life of big girl (both in personality and in size). Her pacing along with the burgeoning confidence of Virginia and her ascertaining of independence felt real. I want to commend her, on her creation of this character and her world, wholeheartedly. I can’t help but think that this novel may have made many girls feel less alone and more empowered. Colour me impressed and hand me another Mackler!
Blunt and clever. Exposes the struggle of having a bigger body than is accepted in high school. Ultimately an extremely body-positive book, "The Earth..." exposes the struggle of growing up in a world which is hostile about your body type. It had been banned and challenged for several years for the simple fact that it tells the sometimes tragic sometimes hilarious truth about being a teenager.
It was so great, I read it all in the same day! I haven’t done that in a while. Honestly wish I had this book when I was going through high school. It shows that you should love yourself, and not let anyone control who you are! Also, that you can’t always look up to people, regardless of who they are you to.