PRINTZ AWARD WINNER

Mackler, Carolyn. The Earth, My Butt And Other Big Round Things. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. 2003.

AWARDS:
A Michael L. Printz Honor Book
An American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
A YALSA Teens' Top Ten Book
Publishers Weekly Cuffie Award winner for Best Book Title

SUMMARY: This story revolves around the life of teenager Virginia Shreves. She lives in Manhattan with her father and mother. She also has a perfect brother and sister. The brother Byron is a very attractive honor student at Columbia University. Her sister Anais has graduated from college and joined the Peace Corps, much to her parents’ dismay. Virginia is a typical teen-ager with low self-esteem exaggerated by the fact that she is overweight. Her only real friend Shannon has left New York and moved to Washington State with her family for a year. Virginia’s family has no time for her. Her mother Phyllis is a busy adolescent psychologist and her father is a high powered software executive. They spend week-ends in Connecticut and Virginia is left alone to fend for herself. She is lonely and uses food for comfort. This only drives a bigger wedge between her and her parents who want her to be thin. They are constantly on her case to lose weight, taking her to doctors and humiliating her. Virginia likes a boy Froggy, but he only pays attention to her when they sneak to her apartment to make out. Virginia knows that she has no chance with him in public, so she doesn’t ask him for more.

The parents are shocked when they get a call one day about Byron. He has been suspended from Columbia for a semester because a girl has accused him of date rape. This sends the family into chaos.

During Thanksgiving, Virginia goes to see Shannon in Washington. Virginia has her eyebrow pierced while Shannon gets her tongue done. The reaction at school is all positive and she decides to rebel further. She gets her hair dyed purple and buys clothes from a store her mother doesn’t approve of. Virginia begins to come out of her shell and students at school begin to notice her. Her family finally begins to see her differently also. Virginia takes up kick-boxing and starts to feel better about her body.

Virginia decides to develop a website for students to complain about whatever they want online. Froggy joins the group and they decide to name the website Earthquack. Froggy and Virginia confess that they’d like to see each other again and Froggy kisses her in front of everyone.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
This is a well written book. It is fast paced and easy to read, which teenagers will like. The main character is a great heroine, coming out of her shell without doing major things to change her body. She also makes her own world better without the help of her family. She is someone teenage girls should look to as a role model.
The parents are believable also. They provide money and shelter, but little attention and support. I think many teens today can relate to parents so caught up in their own lives, they have little left for their children. To make this even more absurd, is the fact that the mother is an adolescent psychologist. The parents want their perfect little family without having to put in the time or emotion to have it. Byron being charged with date rape was a surprising plot twist.

I was so proud of Virginia when she realizes that she has to make herself happy, not her family. I think girls can also relate to why Virginia allows Froggy to treat her as he does. She has so little self-confidence when the story begins that she doesn’t even realize that Froggy might want more. The fact that they really like each other at the end made the story even better. I think most girls will love getting to know Virginia and hopefully they can learn something from her journey.

CONNECTIONS:
I think one great way to get students to relate to this book is for them to discuss or write the ways that their own family is like Virginia’s family. Another great activity would be for students to compare themselves to Virginia. Compare her by personality, as well as her physical description. Ask teenagers if they have ever felt that their parents favored their brothers or sisters over them and how it made them feel? Have they ever felt like they were switched at birth and put in the wrong family and if so, why?

BOOK REVIEWS:
School Library Journal:
"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."

Publishers Weekly:
"The e-mails she exchanges with Shannon, and the lists she makes (e.g., "The Fat Girl Code of Conduct") add both realism and insight to her character. The heroine's transformation into someone who finds her own style and speaks her own mind is believable — and worthy of applause."

RESOURCES:

Mackler, Carolyn. The Earth, My Butt, And Other Big Round Thing. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. 2003.

Carolyn Mackler website.
http://carolynmackler.com/Carolyn-Mackler-Home-Page.asp

Teen Reads website.
http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-mackler-carolyn.asp

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