Summer Book 12

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Every time I go to look at books at Target lately, this one is staring back at me from the shelves. I finally bought it two days ago. I should also point out that the one I bought is the updated version. In an author's note at the beginning, Mackler mentions that in order to keep the story relevant, she went back through and added things like smartphones and Netflix, and I can appreciate this because it helps today's young adults relate to the book.

This is about Virginia, a teenager who lives in Manhattan. She has an older sister and an older brother, who everyone thinks is some kind of god. She doesn't look like the rest of her family, mostly because they are all stick thin and she is not. This is starting to bother her, and Virginia is making an effort to change things, but that is thrown out of whack when her brother is kicked out of college for a semester for date raping a girl.

There's also the fact that Virginia's mother seems to treat her as less than because of her weight. It is refreshing when Virginia finally does something about that. She doesn't have that many friends, so to have her family at odds with her doesn't help things.

I liked this one so much I ordered the sequel, and I am hoping it makes it here sooner rather than later. I was enthralled with this one, and finished it in less than one day.