“I felt naked. And ugly. And huge.” Cat has a lot going for her. She’s super smart, funny, has great friends and a supportive family. What she doesn’t have is being able to think of herself as skinny and her former best friend. When presented with an opportunity to make a huge statement at the science fair, she opts to turn herself into a guinea pig and live like a prehistoric person would…with a few modifications. No one really wants to eat rancid meat these days, now do they?
This is part of what I like to call the growing trend of fat lit. Cat is uncomfortable in her own skin and takes this opportunity to change that and is greatly surprised by the changes in her body as well as those around her. But, as always, it is more about healing what is inside then having a perfect body. What I didn’t like about this book is that it felt like a treatise on how to eat raw foods. You could almost hear the PSA coming through the different characters rather flat voices-the message of fighting childhood obesity was more important than the story. The pacing was moderate and the setting could be anywhere. If I had to give the book a one word review? Meh. It is on the 2011-2012 Gateway Award nominee list and no, that doesn’t surprise me in the least. 2009, 327 pages.
I wasn't that big of a fan of this one either. I too felt it was a bit too preachy on "eat right, eat this way, etc." And I kept expecting it to be someone bigger that the love interest did to make the main character not like him, and when we found out I thought it was a bit of a letdown.
ReplyDeleteI found "the big reveal" of what Matt said disappointing as well. Yeah, it's heartbreaking and cruel, but not something that seemed worthy of dwelling on for nearly five years (and this is coming from a former overweight teen)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, at times the raw vegan message was a bit overbearing.
I did however enjoy the message of working towards a more positive self-esteem and (as I posted in my review) the author seemed to show a pretty significant understanding of what it's like to be overweight. Beyond that, it fell pretty flat. I don't anticipate it winning the Gateway.