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A review by sde
Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
3.0
This was a hard one to rate. Someone in our book group recommended it because she said it had a voice unlike any she had heard before in a novel. That is true, but there is so much talk and description about food that I thought it obscured what could have been an even better story. A person in the book group who has struggled with an eating disorder said that that was very true to life - that is what you are often thinking about - and enjoyed it. But it sometimes dragged for me, even though it was a short book.
Malaya isn't an overweight girl. She is dangerously obese. I feel for the parents trying to figure out how to address this, and they fight a lot about it. It is a very tough situation, and I have no idea how I would deal with it.
The snippets about gentrifying Harlem were poignant. In a few sentences the author evoked the conundrum of gentrification. No more crack vials lying on the sidewalk. Kids can go out and play now. But so much community and anchor places get lost in the process.
I also thought Malaya's thoughts back to their tiny apartment in the Lower East Side (?I think) were interesting and true. Her parents moved to Harlem to have a better life, but some things can be lost when you are striving.
Malaya isn't an overweight girl. She is dangerously obese. I feel for the parents trying to figure out how to address this, and they fight a lot about it. It is a very tough situation, and I have no idea how I would deal with it.
The snippets about gentrifying Harlem were poignant. In a few sentences the author evoked the conundrum of gentrification. No more crack vials lying on the sidewalk. Kids can go out and play now. But so much community and anchor places get lost in the process.
I also thought Malaya's thoughts back to their tiny apartment in the Lower East Side (?I think) were interesting and true. Her parents moved to Harlem to have a better life, but some things can be lost when you are striving.