A Guy, a Girl, and a Teen Book Blog

A Guy, a Girl, and a Teen Book Blog

Monday, September 2, 2013

Skinny by Donna Cooner

Title: Skinny
Author: Donna Cooner
Pages: 272
Publisher: Point
ISBN: 9780545427630
Publication Date: October 1, 2012
AR Levels: Book Level - 4.2, Interest Level - 6th and up, Points - 8.0
Goodreads Link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11958583-skinny

In a nutshell: After Ever Davies' mother dies, she begins using food to ease the pain, and soon she feels like a prisoner in her own body. A toxic voice, whom she names "Skinny," haunts her thoughts with hateful words of discouragement that she'll never amount to anything and that she'll always be alone. But through the process of gastric bypass surgery, this obese teen discovers that she's not as alone as she thinks, that her dreams aren't impossible to obtain, and that her worth is not determined by her weight.

I'd recommend it for grades: 7th and up. I'd say it's written for high schoolers, but middle schoolers will enjoy it too, and it's appropriate content-wise for them as well. I wish I'd had this book in middle school!

I'd recommend it to: fans of contemporary realistic fiction and anyone who has struggled with worrying about what other people think of them or feeling unhappy in their own skin

What I liked most about this book: This is a superbly written novel about a subject that rarely gets tackled in teen lit. I've never read another book about gastric bypass surgery in YA lit, and even if you've never struggled with weight issues, there are important lessons about looking beyond yourself to be learned here, and I think every teen would benefit from reading it. The Cinderella references in this book are fun (if a bit over-used), and I love all the references to Broadway songs (Ever uses a Broadway playlist to help her through her post-surgery life.).

Single favorite moment (without getting spoiler-y): I don't want to give away too much, so I'll just tell you that Rat is by far my favorite character. He's mature yet nerdy and adorable, and he's one of the best examples of true friendship I've seen in a book in a while.

Star rating (where 5 stars is awesome and 0 stars is atrocious): 4 stars

2 comments:

  1. I wish this book had been around when I was in high school! Sounds like it offers a valuable perspective because I haven't read any other books with protagonists who have gotten gastric bypass (people do talk about it in magazine articles occasionally though) either.

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  2. I believe the author also had gastric bypass surgery, so that adds to the authenticity of the experience as well.

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