The earth, my butt & other BIG round things.

The earth, my butt & other BIG round things.

By: Carolyn Mackler

Outer back cover: Virginia thinks the world of everyone but herself.

With a larger-than-average body and a medium-sized inferiority complex, Virginia Shreves lives on the internet, eats junk food and obeys the “Fat Girl Code of Conduct”. Her best friend Shannon has moved to Washington. Froggy Welsh the Fourth (real name!) has succeeded in getting his hand up Virginia’s shirt, but she lives in fear that he’ll look underneath.

Then there are other Shreves: Mom, exercise fiend and adolescent psychologist; Dad, jet-setter and golfer who ogles skinny women on TV; older siblings Anaïs and Byron – slim, brilliant and impossible to live up to. Without Virginia, the Shreves are a picture-perfect family… until a phone call changes everything.

I could not put this book down! I reminded me a lot about being a teenager myself, and also some thoughts that I still have. I guess everybody can recognize themselves in this book in one way or another. The way Virginia is treated and ignored made me almost cry at one point. I probably would have if I wasn’t sitting in the library.

Virginia is just a normal insecure teenager with some body issues. It was interesting to read about what was going through her head about everything that was going on in her life, and it was all very realistic. I felt like I was the one going through it all and like I said I could not put it down! I read it in the time it took to charge my phone at the library.

I would recommend this book to any girl, especially young ones; they might learn something from it. Now I would love to read Vegan Virgin Valentine by Carolyn Mackler, just because of the title... It sounds intriguing… Especially now that I know I like Mackler’s writing style.