Rriot Grrls!

Hey all (2) readers of this blog out there!

How's it going?

To go along with the intro posted below, here's an entry from my Rriot Grrl chapter of Carolyn Mackler's very funny and very poignant Printz honor award winner. After all this time, the title still makes me giggle. And after you read that, mosey on over to my Reading Rants review of her latest.

Mackler, Carolyn. 2003. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick. 246 p.

The Story: Fifteen-year-old overweight Virginia has never felt like a real member of the attractive and accomplished Shreve family. Her mother is a well-known adolescent psychologist and her father is a successful software executive, while older sister Anais is in the Peace Corp, and perfect brother Byron is a sophomore at Columbia. Virginia lives with her parents in a penthouse apartment on Manhattan’s upper West side, and attends a snobby private school where she couldn’t feel more out of place amid an army of skinny, fashion-obsessed girls. Her best friend Shannon just moved, forcing Virginia to spend most lunch periods huddled in the girl’s bathroom so she doesn’t have to eat alone.

The only bright spot in Virginia’s life is the Monday make-out sessions she holds in her room with Froggy Welsh the fourth, a shy sweet boy who has a crush on her, though she can’t imagine why. But those steamy afternoons end when Virginia thinks Froggy (hidden under the bed in haste when her mother unexpectedly comes home) has overheard her mother tell Virginia that she has a doctor’s appointment to address her weight issues. Mortified, Virginia promptly begins avoiding Froggy, thinking he couldn’t care less when in reality, he is crushed.

Virginia tries visiting her brother at his dorm, hoping to rekindle the easy relationship they used to have when they were younger, and is disappointed when he blows her off. She likes the doctor her mother takes her to, especially when he tells her mom that the focus shouldn’t be Virginia’s body, but on fitness and nutrition. But after her father buys her a full-length mirror to watch herself lose weight, she begins skipping meals and spending lunch in a sympathetic teacher’s office. Then, just as Virginia thinks things couldn’t possibly get worse, her parents get a terrible phone call from Columbia’s dean of students. Byron has been accused of date raping another student and the student honor board has voted that he be suspended for the rest of the semester. The news is enough to send Virginia on a disastrous days-long binge of junk food and candy.

At home, her parents seem determined to gloss over the incident and insist that everything is fine. At school, Froggy tries to talk to Virginia, but she continues to avoid him because she can’t stand the thought of doing anything sexual in the wake of Byron’s accusation. Shannon invites Virginia to Seattle for Thanksgiving, but her mother tells her she can’t go because her mother is determined to have a “normal” family holiday for Byron. Virginia is furious. In a silent rage, she purposely burns her finger over a candle as a way to release some of her anger. This isn’t the first time she’s hurt herself instead of speaking up to her parents, and she begins to wonder what would happen if she just stopped being obedient. She decides to secretly buy a ticket to Seattle with her own savings.

Virginia tells her mother that she’s going to Seattle whether her mother agrees or not, and ends up having a great time reconnecting with Shannon and her family. A week before Christmas, a few of Byron’s old friends stop by the apartment but don’t stay long. Virginia tells Byron that it’s probably because they believe that he is a rapist. Byron becomes completely enraged, shouting expletives at her and forcing her to lock herself in her room. Shaken, she sneaks out later and finds the Columbia dorm room of Annie Mills, the girl Byron raped. Virginia apologizes to Annie for what her brother did, and Annie responds by telling Virginia that Byron hasn’t ruined her life because she refuses to let anyone turn her into a victim. Virginia identifies with Annie, as it occurs to her that she doesn’t have to be a victim either and can take control of her own life.

Inspired by Annie, Virginia launches a campaign to stick up for herself. She buys a low cut dress and dyes her hair purple for her parents’ holiday party. After Christmas, she takes up kickboxing and begins making friends with people in her class. She confronts Byron about how terribly he’s been treating her, and tells her dad to please stop commenting on her weight. Finally, she starts a webzine with kids from her school called “Earthquack” and suddenly has a whole new group of friends to sit with at lunch. But the best thing that happens is when Froggy, who she was always sure was only interested in making out with her private, kisses her in front of the entire Earthquack staff. Slowly but surely, Virginia is realizing that her world, and the people she chooses to have in it, doesn’t have to revolve around her “big butt.”

The Message: You don’t have to be a victim. You can take control of your life by standing up for yourself. Follow your dreams. If you set goals, you can accomplish anything.

Who’s it for? Why, for all the “fat girls,” of course! Actually, Mackler’s novel is perfect for 7th-12th graders, chubby or not. Virginia’s issues span the gamut of female adolescent emotion, and there won’t be a 12 to 17 year old girl alive who can’t relate. There are a few rather racy make out scenes between Virginia and Froggy where lots of heavy petting goes on, but no actual intercourse. Virginia also has frequent daydreams about a certain “green-eyed Yankee’s short stop,” (who readers will recognize as Derek Jeter, though he remains unnamed throughout the book) and enjoys oogling his rear during games. There is also some strong language and bullying issues.

Why it rocks:
• Voice: In a funny, self-deprecating first person voice, Carolyn Mackler addresses serious issues of class, body image, emerging sexuality, and self-mutilation in an understated way that never comes off as didactic or excessive.
• Plot: Kind of groundbreaking—in the wake of Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan-esque Gossip Girls, Mackler dared to write about a girl with a real body who has sexual feelings and deals with them in a realistic manner.
• Pacing: Chronological and straightforward, building nicely to the catalytic climax of Virginia meeting Annie.
• Characterization: While some reviewers say Mackler assigned Virginia too many issues, and didn’t deal with them all to the same extent. I completely disagree. By lightly touching on each issue and layering it into Virginia’s personality, Mackler created a full picture of a real girl, who, despite her family’s wealth and prestige, is in quiet crisis. In addition, all of the secondary characterizations of Virginia’s family members are excellent and Mackler is careful to show the impact of each of their individual dysfunctions on Virginia.

Hook it up with: Myrtle of Willendorf by Rebecca O'Connell and Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett

Read more about it:
Booklist: 09/01/03
Horn Book: 04/01/04
Kirkus Review: 06/15/03
Publishers Weekly: 07/21/03
School Library Journal: 09/01/03
V.O.Y.A. (Voice of Youth Advocates): 10/01/03