THE EARTH, MY BUTT & OTHER BIG ROUND THINGS is a coming of age novel about Virginia Shreves as she struggles to find a place to fit in at school and longs for her parent’s approval all the while obsessing about being overweight. Virginia is sure she was switched at birth. "I just know there's a stout, blong family out there, wondering how they wound up with a beautiful, slim, borwn-haired daughter" (page 15). She lives by a Fat Girl Code of Conduct which includes rules for relationships with boys. She knows she can never live up to the expectations her parents have for her. She has an older sister who joined the Peace Corp and an older brother who was the rugby hero of the school. After dealing with the fact that her brother is less than perfect she comes to find out that she has to be true to herself and that will make her happy. When Virginia decides to start doing the things that make her happy she realizes that even though she will still face trials, she will make it.
Teens will be able to relate to Virginia either through the fact that she is overweight, has trouble finding new friends at school after her best friend moves away, or wishing her parents would notice something about her besides her weight. The only part of the book that teens might find unbelievable is the fact that when she stands up to her parents at the end it seems that all is right with her world.
The plot is fast paced and easy to follow. It will keep the readers attention from beginning to end. “Told through first-person narrative, journal entries, and e-mail, Virginia's story will interest readers who are looking for one more book with teen angst, a bit of romance, and a kid who is a bit like them or their friends” (Richmond 2003).
This book covers some heavy topics such as eating disorders, both binge eating and bulimia. It also discusses date rape and the consequences of those actions. Librarians can help students connect to this book by asking them if they have ever felt like they were put in the wrong family. This is a great book for young adults to read to help them discover that life is not perfect no matter how perfect it looks on the outside.
Reference List:
Richmond, Gail. "Review of The Earth, My Butt, & other Big Round Things." School Library Journal 49, no. 9 (2003): 218. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=lih (accessed September 17, 2011).
Arnold, Junior, Spirit was born with quite a few health problems and has been picked on by everyone his entire life. His best friend Rowdy is the only person he can really call a friend. Junior realizes that he lives in poverty and this frustrates him. “Poverty doesn't give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor” (page 13).
Junior wants a better life for himself. After an incident at the school on the reservation, or rez, and a conversation with his math teacher he decides he deserves a better education than the one he will receive on the reservation. He makes up his mind that he is going to enroll in school in the neighboring town. Although he becomes an outcast on the reservation and doesn’t really fit in at his new school he knows he is doing what is best for him.
During the book Junior struggles trying to figure out who he really is. He feels torn between the person he is at school and the reservation, especially knowing that he doesn't really fit in at either place. " I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other" (page 118).
Even though he is considered an outsider on the reservation there is still a strong sense of family when Junior’s grandmother dies. People respect him enough to leave him alone while he is grieving the loss of his grandmother. Although the book stereotypically portrays Indians as mostly drunk, poor, and abusive, it does reinforce the strong sense of community found among Indians.
Junior uses real, modern language to describe being an Indian. Young Adults will be able to relate more to the book because of this language. The use of illustrations throughout the book breaks up the text for readers. The illustrations also help make points during the story such as the full-page illustration on page 89. It shows the trouble Junior has getting to the school each day. It reinforces the fact that he is dedicated to getting an education no matter the cost.
This book will resonate with students who are trying to find a place to fit in and with those who are looking for a better life. “ The story is bittersweet and intense; events are sometimes shocking, but the author does an excellent job of keeping the novel moving at an interesting pace” (Glantz 2008).
Throughout the book Junior discovers that even though circumstances might not always be in his favor he has an inner strength that will help him get through even the toughest times.
Reference List:
Glantz, Shelley. "Review of The Absoluetly True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." Library Media Connection 26, no. 4 (2008): 75. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=lih (accessed September 17, 2011).
Hinton, S.E.. 1995. THE OUTSIDERS. New York: Speak. ISBN: 9780758777539
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a classic that teens enjoy year after year. Teens are able to relate to the struggle between groups of teens who are all just trying to find their place.
Ponyboy is a greaser, known for their long greasy hair, who is being raised by his two brothers Sodapop and Darry. They are known for being a rough and tumble group who fight a lot to prove they are better than everyone else. They have a grudge against the Socs, short for Socials, who they feel have all the best things money can buy and no problems at all. Ponyboy writes “And you can't win against them no matter how hard you try, because they've got all the breaks and even whipping them isn't going to change that fact" (page 11). Each group of boys has a very strong sense of family. They look out for each other and definitely back each other up in a fight after fight.
Ponyboy’s oldest brother, Darry, is hard on him because he wants him to succeed and graduate from school. After getting into a fight with his brother and running away, Ponyboy and Johnny get jumped by a group of Socs and Johnny ends up killing one of them to protect Ponyboy. Afraid of the consequences, they decide to run away. After a week they decide they can't run from the consequences forever and decide to return home. Before they return home they save some children from a burning building and become heroes. When they return home Ponyboy realizes that things are never going to change for him if he doesn't do something to change his circumstances.
Throughout the book Ponyboy begins to recognize that the Greasers and the Socials are not that different after all. Although they have different situations in which they live but they have common experiences. “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset" (page 41).
"The Outsiders was a story for teenagers, about teenagers, written by a teenager. Hinton's candid, canny appraisal of the conflict between Socs, or Socials, and Greasers (for which one might substitute Jets and Sharks), published when she was 17, was an immediate hit and remains the best-selling young-adult novel of all time" (Peck 2007).
Reference List:
Peck, Dale. "'The Outsiders': 40 Years Later." New York Times Book Review (2007): 31. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost. com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=lih
(accessed September 17, 2011).
