Tad
Dimensions' loiterer
I was in a discount book store the other day, one of those places that sells mostly over-stock and leftovers from the bigger chains. While looking around I noticed a book in the teen fiction section called The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. I glanced inside, found that indeed the protagonist is overweight, so I picked it up.
Having read it I give it a passing grade as far as literary value goes. Even for teen fiction I thought it was formulaic in places, with a style somewhat imitating more successful books. There were a couple of sub-plots introduced which seemed to fizzle out, such as a popular girl that the protagonist discovers is bulimic. However it still flows along well with a mostly agreeable and very self-aware narrator. Certainly it was not a chore to read, just not something that did not keep me up at night to finish.
With regard to the size acceptance message, Id grade it a bit higher. At the end the protagonist is more active and is eating better, but has not become skinny nor is she expecting too. There is a romantic interest, who is not developed as well as he could be, but overall seems realistic and likeable. I would really have liked him to make a clear statement at some point that he was attracted to her just as she was, but unfortunately the reason for his interest is never made clearalthough it is at least clear that it goes beyond how far up her shirt he can get. A lot of what she goes through with her parents could have been cribbed from the mothers, daughters, and obesity thread on the main board, and many of her other experiences seem representative of what some BBW have reported about their high school years. The author is very vague as to the protagonists actual size, no doubt on purpose so that the reader can imagine whatever size fat means to them; however this occasionally was awkward, such as when shopping and it took a lot of extra words to dance around without stating a size. Finally, it would have been nice if there had been reference to one or two actual books about body image and or size acceptance, for those who were intrigued and wanted to dig deeper.
Overall, it seems like a reasonable introduction to size acceptance for any BBTeens who read it (or any thinner teens and or budding FA too I suppose). I would not call it essential reading, however.
Regards;
Ed
Having read it I give it a passing grade as far as literary value goes. Even for teen fiction I thought it was formulaic in places, with a style somewhat imitating more successful books. There were a couple of sub-plots introduced which seemed to fizzle out, such as a popular girl that the protagonist discovers is bulimic. However it still flows along well with a mostly agreeable and very self-aware narrator. Certainly it was not a chore to read, just not something that did not keep me up at night to finish.
With regard to the size acceptance message, Id grade it a bit higher. At the end the protagonist is more active and is eating better, but has not become skinny nor is she expecting too. There is a romantic interest, who is not developed as well as he could be, but overall seems realistic and likeable. I would really have liked him to make a clear statement at some point that he was attracted to her just as she was, but unfortunately the reason for his interest is never made clearalthough it is at least clear that it goes beyond how far up her shirt he can get. A lot of what she goes through with her parents could have been cribbed from the mothers, daughters, and obesity thread on the main board, and many of her other experiences seem representative of what some BBW have reported about their high school years. The author is very vague as to the protagonists actual size, no doubt on purpose so that the reader can imagine whatever size fat means to them; however this occasionally was awkward, such as when shopping and it took a lot of extra words to dance around without stating a size. Finally, it would have been nice if there had been reference to one or two actual books about body image and or size acceptance, for those who were intrigued and wanted to dig deeper.
Overall, it seems like a reasonable introduction to size acceptance for any BBTeens who read it (or any thinner teens and or budding FA too I suppose). I would not call it essential reading, however.
Regards;
Ed
