Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Skinny


Cooner, D. (COMING OCTOBER 2012). Skinny. NY:Scholastic.
YA-Lit / Realistic Fiction 
Thank you TLA Conference and Scholastic for this free, uncorrected proof copy!

QuickNEasy, 272 pages, ages 13+

I gave this 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

I really wish I had written about this right after I finished reading it because I know I had so much to say about this book.

First, my impression five weeks, several books, and six hours of grad school later, is that this was a GOOD book.  It was poignant, painful, infuriating, funny. . .  I wanted to shake Ever by the shoulders and tell her to wake-up and see who she really is in the mirror instead of judging herself by her outward appearance.  Ever is her own worst enemy, and even as she battles her weight, it's the weight of her own beliefs and assumptions that truly weigh her down and repel the people who want to love her.

I am not so naive or so old that I don't know or remember what it was like in high school; I understand how cruel people can be to the less than perfect, regardless of how smart or talented or funny they are. Cooner did an outstanding job of describing this scene, though if anything, it wasn't as bad as the reality would be.  Cooner also did an outstanding job of keeping the reader on an emotional see-saw.  Ever would triumph, Ever would fail. Ever would succeed, Ever would undermine her own success.

Though I have never been obese, like most females will over the course of their life, I have struggled with my weight, and I have felt the comfort (and hidden it from everyone else) of a bag of M&Ms.  There was so much in this story to which any female could relate.

OF NOTE: I did not picture Ever looking anything like the girl on this cover. bleh.
 

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