Big and Round

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things

by Carolyn Mackler

Summary

Virginia Shreves is surrounded by seemingly “perfect” people: her thin, ambitious siblings; her successful, thin parents; and the model-skinny popular girls at school. To top it off, her best friend has temporarily moved out of state for the year. While Virginia ponders her plump physique and the questions that come with her feelings for a certain boy in her school, she soon begins to see that the perfect people around her have problems too. As she goes about her days and observes the people in her life, she begins to see beyond their glossy exteriors and figure some things out for herself.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

As a young woman it is hard not to identify with Virginia and the issues she struggles with, and that's what kept me reading this book past bedtime. Even though my own high school experience was much different from Virginia’s, her concerns - about her appearance, the popular kids, and boys - are ones that most any girl can identify with at some point in life. This wasn’t my favorite book to date, but I enjoyed that author Carolyn Mackler didn’t shy away from some tough issues, such as eating disorders, date rape, and self-absorbed parents.

What I liked best about this book is that Virginia is able to look at the people in her life objectively and figure out why they act as they do and what that means (or doesn’t mean) to her. By doing this, she is able to realize that her mother has never dealt with her own childhood insecurities; her brother is not the hero she always painted him as; and her classmates lives are not perfect just because they are thin. Recognizing these shortcomings in others, and then taking control of her own, leaves Virginia strong, happy and self-aware.

Reviews

“A ‘chubby’ New York City teen faces pressures from her family to get thin, and her brother is suspended from college on charges of date rape. The heroine's transformation into someone who finds her own style and speaks her own mind is believable-and worthy of applause.” - Publishers Weekly

“Mackler writes with such insight and humor (sometimes using strong language to make her point) that many readers will immediately identify with Virginia's longings as well as her fear and loathing. Her gradually evolving ability to stand up to her family is hard won and not always believable, but it provides a hopeful ending for those trying stand on their own two feet.” - Booklist

-Michael J. Printz Honor Book, 2004

In the library

Mackler’s award-winning book has faced challenges and bans in some libraries across the country. She says the strong language and elements of sexuality she uses in the text help readers identify with her main character. Ask students to discuss what their thoughts on the issue are - did they find these elements offensive or realistic? Should authors try to make their characters as true to life as possible, and if so, how “real” should they be?

SLIS 5420

Module 7

Week of Oct. 11-17