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Title: The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things
Author: Carolyn Mackler
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3/5
Why I Read It: One blogger I follow, Jessica, loved this book, while another, Emily, didn’t think it was all that great. I wanted to see where I’d fall.

Summary: 15-year-old Virginia is fat. Her mother judges her, her father judges her, and everyone at her Manhattan private school judges her. Except for a boy named Froggy.

Review: Virginia is a girl whose spunk inspires you to root for her. The story interested me enough to keep reading, but in the end I didn’t love the book.

This is another case where a character’s young voice wasn’t my thing. I’m considering going back to plot all my book ratings against the main character’s age to see if I find a trend. Any excuse for another spreadsheet!

I also want to try another book by this author—one with an older protagonist—and see if I connect with it better. Any suggestions?

Moving onto my writerly education, here are some lessons reinforced while reading this book:

  • Show don’t tell—The show/tell see-saw felt a little lopsided. Poor Show got stuck at the top dangling her legs.
  • Tone down the drama—The ending tended toward melodrama. Lots of crying. Sometimes, less is more.
  • Watch for adult sayings—For as young as the voice felt, there were a few times when I felt like the author’s adult sensibilities leaked through to the main character, such as in the quote below.

I feel awful that I stormed out of her office last week. I know she only wanted to help me, but I guess it struck a raw nerve. As they say, the truth is always the hardest thing to hear.

That last sentence sounded odd to me coming from a 15-year-old.

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

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