| Booktalk
#1
Virginia Shreves is a high
school sophomore living in New York City. She has many good qualities
but she tends to be a bit overweight. And because of that, she also
tends to be a bit insecure. Like, she actually has a pretty hot boyfriend
but she assumes he doesn't want to be seen with her in person. Like,
she hates lunch time in the cafeteria with no friends so she hides out
in the bathroom. She thinks she has the fat girl rules of conduct
down pat and her life pretty well figured out. Until her perfect
brother does something that will shatter the illusion of their perfect
family. That's when Virginia realizes that her fat girl rules are
all wrong.
Booktalk #2
Virginia has a LOT to worry
about. First there's Froggy, Froggy Welsh the fourth, to be exact.
He's not her boyfriend, or even her friend, really, but just a guy that
she practices french kissing with every Monday. Will Froggy be able
to tell that he's the first guy she's ever kissed? She wonders:
"Does my inexperience show? What do I do with my tongue once it's
in his mouth? Am I suctioning my lips too tightly? Should I
keep my eyes open? Too weird! Or closed? Maybe.
But what if HIS eyes are open and mine are closed and I make a freaky face
and he sees it and laughs so hard that he bites my tongue off?"
And Froggy is the least of her worries. Her best friend just moved
to the other side of the country, her plus-sized body is showing no signs
of getting smaller, and her grades are dropping. To top it off, her
pefect family is getting on her last nerve. Her mom, the workout
queen, can't stop criticizing Virginia. Her dad seems like he's off
in space most of the time. Her older brother and sister have moved
out and have perfect lives. Then one day a phone call brings shocking
news that turns Virginia's life upside down. To learn Virginia's
secret, you'll have to read The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things.
(Beth McGuire, mcguireb@fastmail.fm,
Burke
High School, Charleston, SC)
Booktalk #3
The Fat Girl Code of Conduct
- by Virginia Shreves – 1. Any sexual activity is a secret. No public
displays of affection. 2. Don’t discuss your weight with him.
3. Go further than skinny girls. If you can’t sell him on your body,
you’d better overcompensate with sexual perks. 4. Never, ever, ever,
ever, ever push the relationship thing.
Virginia believes she must
live by these rules because she is not perfect and skinny like the rest
of her family. Therefore, she doesn’t deserve to have a real relationship
with Froggy Welsh the Fourth (yes that is his real name). However,
once Virginia begins to see that not everyone in her family is perfect
after her brother is charged with date rape and her mother admits she used
to be fat, Virginia begins to re-evaluate how she wants to live her life.
Read The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things to see whether Virginia
can re-make the rules of her life. (Charlene Zehner, South
Carolina Book Awards, 2006)
Booktalk #4
Virginia
Shreves feels that she can’t live up to others in her family and in fact
wonders if she was switched at birth --- she’s overweight and blond, they’re
slim and brunette.When Virginia’s
older God-like brother is suspended from college for date rape, Virginia
begins to question her worship of family members and makes some freeing
decisions on her own. Black-eyed
Susan Award nominee 2005-2006 |
