Mackler, C. (2003). The
earth, my butt, and other big round things. Mass:
Candlewick Press.
Candlewick Press.
Summary:
This is a
young adult novel about a teen girl named Ginny. Ginny struggles with her body image, and
comments from her mother (an adolescent psychologist) don’t help. The youngest child in a family of very
successful parents, and two overachieving siblings, Ginny struggles to find her
place in the world. She navigates a
relationship with a boy at school, Froggy, that includes some detailed making
out. These scenes show a lot about how
Ginny feels about her body. Ginny won’t
claim the relationship as romantic due to her poor body image. When the brother she idolizes commits date
rape while at college, Ginny must decide who and what she believes, and begin
to be her own person. Ginny experiments with some self harming behavior along
the way. In the end, Ginny begins to
become the person she wants to be, stands up to her parents, and begins an
‘official’ romantic relationship with Froggy.
My
Impression:
I enjoyed
this novel, which is written in the first person and allows the reader to see
the great person Ginny is before she realizes it herself. It realistically expresses the experiences
and feelings of many teenage girls, including body image, family issues,
school, boyfriends, and friendships. The
book does describe some of the making out scenes in detail, but I don’t feel it
is inappropriate for the age group (high school) for which the book is
intended. These scenes allow the reader
to understand Ginny’s body image issues.
The topic of date rape is also handled appropriately, and the scene
where Ginny goes to meet the girl who her brother date raped allows the reader
to hear the victim’s side. It is
interesting to see the perspective of date rape as seen from the perpetrator’s
sister. I don’t feel that anything in
this novel was inappropriate for the intended audience. Those challenging this book must not realize what
high school students know and deal with every day.
Library
Usage:
An extension to this book is to use it as a lead in for research on the topic of date rape. The incident in the book occurred at a party
involving a lot of drinking. Students
could research the topic of date rape, and when and where it often occurs. They then could create a presentation about
preventing date rape. This would serve
not only as a way to increase research skills, but also provided safety tips to
teenagers
Review:
"You can tell that Ani is angry, but at the same
time she's also funny and strong and sassy." Though she's talking about
punk folksinger Ani DiFranco, fifteen-year-old Virginia could easily be
describing herself. Unfortunately, Virginia buries her anger (toward her
picture-perfect but dysfunctional family) and is unable to see herself as
anything but a fat girl who's kind of smart. When her brother Byron, whom she
worships, is found guilty of date rape, Virginia finally begins to acknowledge
what her older sister Anais has tried to tell her: that Byron and their parents
are far from perfect. Virginia's transition from an insecure girl desperate for
her family's approval to a confident young woman might be a little messagey,
but it's believable, and she doesn't do it on her own. Support comes from her
best friend, from a teacher with eating-disorder experience, from a doctor who
stresses health not weight and recommends channeling anger through kick-boxing,
and even from the college student her brother assaulted. Readers will cheer
Virginia on when she tells her father not to comment on her weight loss ("my body [is] just not yours to
discuss"); tells her brother he's "an asshole for date-raping
someone"; ignores clothing advice from her appearance-obsessed mother (who
recommends "strategic layers and camouflaging colors") and buys a
sexy purple dress instead; and realizes that the guy she's been making out with
behind closed doors actually wants to kiss her in public. Mackler does a fine
job introducing girls to a very cool chick with a little meat on her bones.
Brabander, J. M. (2003). The earth, my butt, and other big
round things. Horn Book
Magazine, 79(5), 614-615.
