The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things

Book Title: The Earth My Butt and Other Big Round Things Author: Carolyn Mackler
Pages: 256 Publisher: Candlewick Press
Why did you decide to read the book? I decided to read this book because I started reading it last year, but never got around to finishing it. Then I saw that Lindsay wrote a great review for it and I wanted to try reading it again.
Brief Summary of Book (6-8 sentences): Virginia Shreves, is 15 years old, and is the odd-ball out in her family. Her mother, father, sister, and brother are all, tall, skinny, beautiful, and successful. Virginia is exactly the opposite. By feeling like the outcast in her family, Virginia, who was pressured to lose weight, was hiding food in her room. It wasn’t until her brother got into trouble that Virginia decided to make some changes in her life. She became more confident and happy about the way she looked. She also started to care less about what people thought about her.
Audience: The audience for this book would older kids, to teenagers. I feel as though a lot of the teenagers could relate to the book and what Virginia is going through. I felt as though I could certainly relate to her and her family. Every child goes through the phase where they do crazy outrageous things, and I think throughout the novel, Virginia went through hers.
Writing Style:
Description - Mackler’s writing style is very similar to a teenager’s writing style. She make is very easy for the people reading the novel to understand what she is saying. It makes it very easy for teenagers to relate to the novel.
Passage - "Virginia, I am so proud of you," she says. I mute the volume. It’s not every day I hear "Virginia" and "proud" in the same sentence. "Why?" "I just saw those pictures you stuck on the fridge." Mom, meet the Food Police. Mom continues. "You want to hear something funny?" I nod. "Back when I was . . ." - Mom pauses - ". . . a teenager, I put images of models on my family’s fridge, to keep me from eating too much." "Really?" Mom nods.
Vocabulary:
Word Definition : cynicism- the attitude or beliefs of a cynic.
Sentence & page it came from: Although she views some of this perfection with cynicism (72)
Word Definition: ostracism- the temporary banishment of a citizen by popular vote.
Sentence & page it came from: I even managed to include two mentions of "ostracism" and three of "oppression," so my teacher gobbled it up. (138)
Passage #1: Sunday morning. My parents return from Connecticut early because Dad has to leave for a business trip to Chicago this afternoon. I’m sitting on the couch, watching TV and chewing my fat-free nails. They say hi to me and then Mom goes into the kitchen to make a smoothie.
Passage #2: Since when did Mom become Ms. Observant Parent? A few weeks ago, I got an A+ on a language arts paper about ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel García Márquez. I even managed to include two mentions of "ostracism" and three of "oppression," so my teacher gobbled it up. I stuck it to the fridge with a few magnets, hoping Mom - a big Márquez fan - would say something, but she never seemed to notice.
Theme: Selfishness, Being all about yourself, and not caring about others.
Letter Grade: