Peterson's Midnight Readings
August 31
I do some of my best reading at Midnight. I know I should be sleeping, but there are too many books out there waiting to be read...Here are my thoughts on books featured in the Rockridge Junior and Senior High Libraries.
Summary : Blubber meets Steel Magnolias in this funny and honest story about body image and family. Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low profile. Rosemary resolves to lose the weight, but her journey turns out to be about everything but the scale. Her life-changing, waist-shrinking year is captured with brutal honesty and humor, topped with an extra large helping of Southern charm. - From TitlePeek...to read more about the book, click on the title or picture above.
My thoughts: For every overweight to awesome book, there is a story about a girl who is picked on by a group of mean girls and feels external pressure about her weight and body image. Eventually she gets mad enough to change. Skinnier, Happier, and Healthier, he notices her. The story ends happily ever after skinny with her amazing boyfriend.
Ok so this book has those elements, but this book sets itself apart from the rest thru the author's characterization of Rosemary. There was more to Rosemary than the physical presence. As a reader, I want to connect with the characters and see the humanity in them, and the author accomplished that. I could see part of myself in Rosemary. I wasn't the most popular and struggle with the same issues Rosemary does, so to read about another person, albeit fictional, can be inspiring or at least reassuring to me that I am not the only one. Rosemary isn't a saint and she does have some flaws, but that just makes her more real to me. Nobody is perfect, so why do I want to read about somebody who is?
Give Artichoke's Heart a chance and you won't regret it...trust me ;)
Summary:
The lives of four very different teenagers become entangled in ways that none of them could have imagined after a short stay at a Caribbean resort.
It will change Jena, whose first brush with romance takes her that much closer to having a life, and not just reading about those infinitely cooler and more exciting. It will change Dakota, who needs the devastating truth about his past to make him realize that he doesn’t have to be a jerk just because people think he’s one. It will change Skye, a heartbreakingly beautiful actress, who must come to terms with the fact that for once she has to stop playing a role or face the consequences. And it will change Owen, who has never risked anything before and who will take the leap from his online life to a real one all because of a girl he met at Paradise….
Let me be honest with you, I LOVE CHICK BOOKS. I love the romance, the friends, the drama, and all it entails. Tangled meets all of those requirements. While reading the book, I would tell everyone that I liked it so far. After reading it though, I don't know if I can say the same thing...
I have a problem with Carolyn Mackler books. Tangled, like My Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things, starts out really strong and then left me empty by the end. I closed this book at 2:15 am and felt a little disappointed because I think it could have been better... it's a naggin feeling I can't let go of. Her characters are great and but the story is like my first attempt at making Jell-O. Like my Jell-O, the story hasn't set long enough so it's left to turn to liquid. Her books never go deep enough into the story so I am left wondering and trying to connect the dots in my head about the story's details. I hate that confused and empty feeling, especially knowing that in 3 1/2 hours I will have to get up and go to school.
These are only my opinions so do not mistake this for the gospel on this book....Fans of Chick Lit and Mackler's other works should try Tangled and untangle the mess for me.
-P
