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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
a favourite of mine that I read too young and then re read multiple times. a story about a young fat gay boy and his nipples <3 I still feel so so connected to him and his story, a huge recommend
A very funny story about Peter, an overweight 13-year-old boy suffering through his last year of elementary school hiding his nipples with masking tape and a tensor bandage. Fruit = cherry nipples. All the characters were a blast, and the plot was so authentic, I was completely drawn in to relive the angst of growing up. This title was a finalist in the Canada Reads 2009 competition.
I grew up a couple of provinces over from where this book is set and a couple of years before but Francis still managed to take me right smack back to that time with all the dead on references, everything from a Vachon Flaky to the tall tales told on the playground.
This book isn’t really about being gay. Sure, that helps to intensify Peter’s sense of confusion and alienation but I haven’t met anyone yet who sailed through puberty without feeling awkward and misunderstood and a little betrayed by a rapidly changing body. It’s one of the few universal experiences and through Peter’s struggles Francis illustrates this time with humour, compassion and deadly accuracy. Francis, also has a talent for creating very real and interesting characters. Peter’s foul-mouthed friend Daniela particularly is etched into my brain.
Parts of this book are heartbreaking but at the same time it is never depressing. In fact, I don’t know how anything this funny could be depressing. Our hero, Peter Paddington may be confused, overweight and a bit of a social outcast but we see him slowly finding his way and we know that he’ll be ok.
I’m not sure why this book was never marketed as a Young Adult book. It does have that feel. But, all in all I may not have read it if it had been, and that would have been a shame.
This book isn’t really about being gay. Sure, that helps to intensify Peter’s sense of confusion and alienation but I haven’t met anyone yet who sailed through puberty without feeling awkward and misunderstood and a little betrayed by a rapidly changing body. It’s one of the few universal experiences and through Peter’s struggles Francis illustrates this time with humour, compassion and deadly accuracy. Francis, also has a talent for creating very real and interesting characters. Peter’s foul-mouthed friend Daniela particularly is etched into my brain.
Parts of this book are heartbreaking but at the same time it is never depressing. In fact, I don’t know how anything this funny could be depressing. Our hero, Peter Paddington may be confused, overweight and a bit of a social outcast but we see him slowly finding his way and we know that he’ll be ok.
I’m not sure why this book was never marketed as a Young Adult book. It does have that feel. But, all in all I may not have read it if it had been, and that would have been a shame.
slow-paced
...I'm not too sure what I think about this book.
I really, really enjoyed this. A very readable story. 14 year old Peter Paddington feels betrayed by his body. One day his nipples pop out and eventually begin talking to him, begging him to be honest about a secret only they know. Instead he starts wrapping himself in tape, but no amount of tape can keep himself hidden from himself.
Peter's voice is very believable, leading me to recall much of my young teen years. Actually his voice is much more believable than most teen lit that I've read in recent years. Highly recommend to anyone wanting a good read but definitely to adult gay men and women still trying to understand the teen world and time that probably left quite a bit of scar tissue. And to gay teens who no matter what can't help but to feel so alone.
Peter's voice is very believable, leading me to recall much of my young teen years. Actually his voice is much more believable than most teen lit that I've read in recent years. Highly recommend to anyone wanting a good read but definitely to adult gay men and women still trying to understand the teen world and time that probably left quite a bit of scar tissue. And to gay teens who no matter what can't help but to feel so alone.
This was a such a witty and heartfelt novel - I did not love the ending but I also didn’t mind it enough to dock a star form this five star story
http://kirbc.com/2008/11/30/fruit-by-brian-francis/