nextbestcoast's review against another edition
2.0
Huh. I'm really not sure what I thought, or what to think, about this. It was...weird. Jamie's character didn't seem very sincere to me, like being Fat Girl was the one dimension of her personality.
carrionlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
This one is a hard read and triggering in places. I do wish more thin people would read this though, especially Jamie's column.
k5tog's review against another edition
3.0
A coming of age novel about an obese teenager. Lots of fat issues are brought up - fat acceptance, self esteem, fat discrimination, bariatric surgery (and it's risk), and more.
katje's review against another edition
4.0
Good story about fat acceptance, the horrors we fat people put ourselves through just to be thin, and how hard high school can be for a fat girl. This really is a book that teens should read.
rakishabpl's review against another edition
2.0
I had so much hope for this big, because I felt it would tackle some difficult subjects like gastric bypass surgery, interracial relationships, and body image in teens. I could tell from the research on gastric bypass surgery that the author really did do a lot of research. However, her characters were shallow, badly developed, and generally unpleasant. Protaganists do not have to be pleasant or even morally good, but anti-heros should, at the very least, be likable. Jamie, the protaganist in this book, is wholly unlikable that you can't believe she has a boyfriend and two best friends. Even worse, her editorials are badly written and researched, and I can't see any of them being worthy of a journalism scholarship.
lazygal's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. I can relate to Fat Girl's life, and that's saying something.
jbojkov's review against another edition
5.0
I loved Jaime's voice in this eye-opening novel. I've never struggled with my weight, so I was not sure what to expect, but she was NOT it. She was well-adjusted, self-confident and in love. I thought this was a funny, smart and honest book.
librariann's review against another edition
Ages 12+ (no language, tangential mentions of sex)
Near-militant about her right to be fat, self-proclaimed "Fat Girl" Jamie is a senior in high school, has a happy relationship with a Fat Boy, and a leading (but not lead) role in the fall musical, "The Wiz." As features editor of the school newspaper, she writes a column on being fat and proud, as well as the discrimination Fat Girls like her take. When larger media outlets pick up on her stories, it gets blown out of proportion.The characters of her friends are more like caricatures (lesbian Freddie, obsessive vegan NoNo) and Jamie herself can be downright unlikable at times. But her strong opinions are redeemed by her own revelations, and it's nice to see a character in YA lit who's overweight and not a recluse, loser, loner, or dieter.
Near-militant about her right to be fat, self-proclaimed "Fat Girl" Jamie is a senior in high school, has a happy relationship with a Fat Boy, and a leading (but not lead) role in the fall musical, "The Wiz." As features editor of the school newspaper, she writes a column on being fat and proud, as well as the discrimination Fat Girls like her take. When larger media outlets pick up on her stories, it gets blown out of proportion.The characters of her friends are more like caricatures (lesbian Freddie, obsessive vegan NoNo) and Jamie herself can be downright unlikable at times. But her strong opinions are redeemed by her own revelations, and it's nice to see a character in YA lit who's overweight and not a recluse, loser, loner, or dieter.
yungokssss's review against another edition
2.0
Recommend this for:
1) IDK!!
2) Really fat people who wanna be sure that they're better than skinny or normal people
3) People who want to know how to ditch their sick boyfriend for a hotter and smarter guy (maybe this one's a big too harsh)
4) People who want to know the effects of fat-removal surgery
5) People who like to laugh at mean things
I got this book because I wanted to read about the relationship between overweight/normal people, and see what life was like from a perspective from an obese person's view.
I have to say that I did not like what I got.
1) Throughout the book, Jamie insults normal people. She gets pissed that when she walks into a store, they don't have over 13 size clothes. (Hello??? This is America, I get it. America has the most obese people ever. But you don't see us normal people marching into Plus Sizes and making a fit that they don't have clothes that fit us!)
2) Jamie has this one friend that hates touching anything that was made from animals and stuff. She's really eco. The author really made fun of her! When she got hysterical about something that meant a lot to her, (killing animals for leisure, etc), the author put on a humorous air, like "oh haha isn't she just charming". And people have their beliefs and stuff. It's not OK to make fun of them.
3) I really DID like how the author put everything through a Fat Girl's (Jamie's magazine name) perspective. But I did NOT like how the author really pushed it on that "being obese is OK!" and "You're great the way you are!". No, I absolutely agree that we shouldn't change because of society or fashion views, but this is HEALTH. It is OK to make a person feel better about themselves, but to encourage them to continue their bad habits? To stay the way they are? Don't change? Don't TRY to change? Obesity is a hazard, and people die from it. And the author's saying that if you're a teen and your body fat is over 50 it's "okay"? No, it's NOT okay. Being obese isn't a choice where you can just wave your hand and go "whatever." It's got consequences. OK, I don't mean to be mean or put anyone out or make them feel bad. I'm just trying to say that we shouldn't JUDGE or MAKE FUN of obese people, but we can't just let it happen and say "OK". That's wrong. And I kinda felt that the author was like consoling people and saying "it's OK".
The language was fantastic, and it was well written. But if you're considering reading this, please try and think about my comments before you go to the library and pick it up.
1) IDK!!
2) Really fat people who wanna be sure that they're better than skinny or normal people
3) People who want to know how to ditch their sick boyfriend for a hotter and smarter guy (maybe this one's a big too harsh)
4) People who want to know the effects of fat-removal surgery
5) People who like to laugh at mean things
I got this book because I wanted to read about the relationship between overweight/normal people, and see what life was like from a perspective from an obese person's view.
I have to say that I did not like what I got.
1) Throughout the book, Jamie insults normal people. She gets pissed that when she walks into a store, they don't have over 13 size clothes. (Hello??? This is America, I get it. America has the most obese people ever. But you don't see us normal people marching into Plus Sizes and making a fit that they don't have clothes that fit us!)
2) Jamie has this one friend that hates touching anything that was made from animals and stuff. She's really eco. The author really made fun of her! When she got hysterical about something that meant a lot to her, (killing animals for leisure, etc), the author put on a humorous air, like "oh haha isn't she just charming". And people have their beliefs and stuff. It's not OK to make fun of them.
3) I really DID like how the author put everything through a Fat Girl's (Jamie's magazine name) perspective. But I did NOT like how the author really pushed it on that "being obese is OK!" and "You're great the way you are!". No, I absolutely agree that we shouldn't change because of society or fashion views, but this is HEALTH. It is OK to make a person feel better about themselves, but to encourage them to continue their bad habits? To stay the way they are? Don't change? Don't TRY to change? Obesity is a hazard, and people die from it. And the author's saying that if you're a teen and your body fat is over 50 it's "okay"? No, it's NOT okay. Being obese isn't a choice where you can just wave your hand and go "whatever." It's got consequences. OK, I don't mean to be mean or put anyone out or make them feel bad. I'm just trying to say that we shouldn't JUDGE or MAKE FUN of obese people, but we can't just let it happen and say "OK". That's wrong. And I kinda felt that the author was like consoling people and saying "it's OK".
The language was fantastic, and it was well written. But if you're considering reading this, please try and think about my comments before you go to the library and pick it up.