wombat_88's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
joaniemaloney's review against another edition
3.0
"So can someone please give me an example of something that isn't "ongoing?" Is there something in this life that's ever clearly, unequivocally finished? And is it just because I'm young that I have to ask that? I mean, here's a horrible possibility: even death can't exactly finish us."
Judy Lohden is sixteen years old, three feet nine, and has got the smarts and a stunning voice to land her a spot at Darcy Academy, a prestigious performing arts high school. It's affectionately known as D'Arts to those attending, and the students get privileges such as being able to decorate the outside of their lockers. (I went to a public high school and this just wasn't possible, even if I had an idea of what I wanted to do with mine.)
The story revolves around a scandal at D'Arts, involving Judy herself. She's hiding away from friends, family, and the media at a dingy motel, and the pieces slowly come together. Sometimes, too slowly. I enjoyed Judy's commentary, but it was a struggle to get through the tedious comings and goings at the high school, day after day. The mystery behind what she was so humiliated about kept me reading, but just enough. I can see the book being just as effective, possibly more, if some parts were trimmed.
I won't spoil anyone about the incident, but the hints leading up to it are telling and it's not hard to figure it out. It doesn't diminish the awfulness of it, but like I mentioned before, the story does drag. The sharpness of Judy's voice can be both a strength and a weakness, because there's almost a spectator-feel to how she tells the story, like she's not living through it all the same time we're reading about it. Judy does seem more mature than to struggle with teenage problems. I feel the fear but can't help seeing POV!Judy and past!Judy as completely different people.
I'm not sure if I could recommend this book. Rachel DeWoskin has a solid idea but it lost me through the execution. It's on my YA shelf for Judy's age, although it might not be marketed that way. I can't bring myself to give it 2 stars, but 3 stars would suffice. 2.5 stars might be most fitting.
tricialprice's review against another edition
3.0
Though Judy's traumatic experience is a bit hard to read about, I think this book does a good job of portraying her as an empowered survivor rather than a victim.
lauriebuchanan's review against another edition
5.0
It’s difficult to fit a square peg in a round hole. Told in first person, author Rachel DeWoskin absolutely nails the character of 16-year old Judy Lohden, a high school student with a singing voice as big, beautiful, and crystal clear as a cloud-free, Montana sky, but whose physical stature — three feet nine inches — makes life unbearably hard. Sarcastic and self-deprecating, Judy makes it into the limelight. In fact, the national media is searching for her. Astute beyond her years, the journey with this young woman is well worth the price of admission!
mikolee's review
3.0
Wonderful novel about a little person teenage girl. A modern twist on a coming of digital age tale of Judy, a talented girl just entering as a junior at an exclusive performing arts high school. As all teens she longs to fit in but unlike others her unique stature is apparent to all. However she is smart, witty and strong and while her size is not the focal point, it does impact the story.
alytodd's review
2.0
"it was ok" is the best way to describe this book. i wanted to like it, it just didn't grab a hold of me.
meeners's review
3.0
slow going at first but really came together in the end. part of the initial problem for me came from the author's decision to write in Teen-Speak (tm) for the great bulk of the novel: so many "it was, like..." and "i mean, just..." and "kind of, you know..." sentences cluttering up the place, like dirty candy wrappers strewn all over a room. i felt this was a disservice to readers, especially teen ones; relying on such generic stylistic crutches means you end up writing in the voice of Your Average Teenager (never mind the fact that there is no such thing), instead of in the voice of a distinct, complex individual. i noticed that the back cover has a blurb that disses holden caulfield YET AGAIN,* but surely this is unfair to both rachel dewoskin and j.d. salinger. holden caulfield may be an annoying zit of a teenager, yes, but at least he is - at all times - himself. salinger is also a smart enough writer to show us holden both as he perceives himself and as he is perceived by others - the latter ironically, dialogically, through a very deliberate prose. i have always found the brief moment when holden's bravado shatters devastasting, not least because it is the moment when he is finally forced to confront, in his own voice, brutal things we (as readers) have already been clued in on. as such, the book couldn't possibly work if it weren't narrated in the way it is.
big girl small is less ambitious than the catcher in the rye but also i think fairer to its protagonist. perhaps part of the reason why so many people hated the catcher in the rye in high school is because the book is not speaking to teens, and not really speaking about them, either. this book is. at the same time, i'm inclined to think that the Teen-Speak here is, in a way, a kind of bravado as well. it mostly falls away when judy finally starts speaking about the crucial night, giving way to a self-narration that is powerful and moving precisely because it acknowledges its own retrospected, constructed nature. just because it's a first-person narrative doesn't mean you have to abandon the awareness that it is still writing, after all, not the facile transcription of speech.
anyway, it's a compelling read, and it approaches high school life from a perspective you'd be hard-pressed to find in other novels. would quite like a sequel, in fact! judy is one smart person, and i'd love to see how she tackles her life from here on out.
*dissing catcher in the rye has become, i think, the literary equivalent of asserting membership in the Cool Kids Club. it's one of those things people do even when they haven't actually read the book, or when they only read it years and years ago in 8th-grade english. not saying that everyone should or can like salinger, of course. but it irks me when i can't get into proper arguments about books because the other person isn't endorsing a position so much as an Attitude.**
**i admit i am sometimes guilty of this myself, too. THAT IS BESIDE THE POINT. XD
big girl small is less ambitious than the catcher in the rye but also i think fairer to its protagonist. perhaps part of the reason why so many people hated the catcher in the rye in high school is because the book is not speaking to teens, and not really speaking about them, either. this book is. at the same time, i'm inclined to think that the Teen-Speak here is, in a way, a kind of bravado as well. it mostly falls away when judy finally starts speaking about the crucial night, giving way to a self-narration that is powerful and moving precisely because it acknowledges its own retrospected, constructed nature. just because it's a first-person narrative doesn't mean you have to abandon the awareness that it is still writing, after all, not the facile transcription of speech.
anyway, it's a compelling read, and it approaches high school life from a perspective you'd be hard-pressed to find in other novels. would quite like a sequel, in fact! judy is one smart person, and i'd love to see how she tackles her life from here on out.
*dissing catcher in the rye has become, i think, the literary equivalent of asserting membership in the Cool Kids Club. it's one of those things people do even when they haven't actually read the book, or when they only read it years and years ago in 8th-grade english. not saying that everyone should or can like salinger, of course. but it irks me when i can't get into proper arguments about books because the other person isn't endorsing a position so much as an Attitude.**
**i admit i am sometimes guilty of this myself, too. THAT IS BESIDE THE POINT. XD
angelasunshine's review
3.0
I have a feeling I would've liked this more if I'd read it rather than listen to it on audio...
anndouglas's review
5.0
I loved this book, particularly its feisty, complicated, and painfully honest narrator. Funny and moving.