It starts off as another painful and humorous tale of teen angst, but “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” turns out to be more as we get to know Virginia Shreves. Virginia knows she is fat. Not heavy like her perfect mother likes to refer to her, or extra-large like her perfect older brother calls her, but fat. There is also a perfect father and perfect older sister. Perfect means thin, beautiful, and fluent in French. Virginia looks and acts nothing like the rest of her family and is positive she was switched at birth. Somewhere a large blond family has a thin brunette teen. To make matters worse, her best friend is spending the year away in Walla Walla, Washington. Then one day, an “ordeal” happens to her family and Virginia starts to realize that her family is not so perfect after all, and that she, Virginia, was too quick to doubt herself. Told in the first person, Carolyn Mackler has smart adult perceptions about teens their emotions yet writes in a voice that appeals to the younger generation. ( )

FROM AMAZON: A Michael L. Printz Honor Book * An ALA Best Book for Young Adults * A YALSA Teens' Top Ten Book * An NYPL Book for the Teen Age

Carolyn Mackler's Printz Honor book--starring the unforgettably funny, body-conscious Virginia Shreves--returns in this 15th anniversary edition featuring text updates and never-before-seen material from the author.

Fifteen-year-old Virginia feels like a plus-sized black sheep in her family, especially next to her perfect big brother Byron. Not to mention her best friend has moved, leaving Virginia to navigate an awkward relationship with a boy alone. He might like her now . . . but she has her doubts about how he'll react if he ever looks under all her layers of clothes.

In order to survive, Virginia decides to follow a “Fat Girl Code of Conduct,” which works, until the unthinkable causes her family's façade to crumble. As her world spins out of orbit, she realizes that being true to herself might be the only way back.

Told in a perfect blend of humor and heart, this acclaimed Printz Honor winner resonates as much today as it did when it first published, and now features a new author foreword, text updates, and other bonus content. ( )

At first, I thought the book to be trite and a tad corny. But, as I progressed, I thought the author had a good way of describing the feelings of self loathing and sadness that accompany those who make comments regarding weight. Fourteen is a tough age, especially when a group of well-liked and top of the popular list take great pride when intentionally making very rude, nasty, bullying comments regarding weight.

Virginia lives with a brother who is good looking, popular and well-loved by all girls who enter his orbit. He is at the top of the list smart, and girls flock to him. Her sister is also popular and thin. As a child, her mother reminds her that she was also "fat" and knows how her daughter feels (but she truly doesn't.) Her father makes unfeeling comments about Virginia's weight.

While her brother and sister are rewarding for their intelligence, Virginia is reminded she would be rewarded IF she lost weight -- a lot of it!.

Virginia likes a boy whom she brings home so she can seek attention by his grouping of her. Though, in her mind, he would not want to acknowledge her in the school atmosphere.

Her mother takes her to a doctor with the goal of helping her lose a lot of weight. Much surprised, Virginia's mother doesn't agree with the doctor who reminds her and Virginia that healthy eating is a goal, not the issue of weight for the only sake of losing it!

This is an insightful book of the list of things that must be accomplished to literally FIT in.

I read this in one sitting.

Three Stars ( )

Fun fast YA book. Made me think about what it was like to be a teenager. The book definitely took a left turn I wasn't expecting and I was surprised by how the family dealt with that in some aspects, but not overall. I assume some people will be upset with how that wasn't addressed or handled well in their opinion, but please remember that was not what this story was about. This story was about Virginia and how she dealt with it and with her family. I enjoyed this enough to look up other books by this author. ( )

Summary: Virginia feels isolated from her family. They are thin, beautiful over-achievers; she feels like a chubby under-achiever. When her rugby star brother is found guilty of something terrible, she needs to rearrange her views of who her family is, and ultimately who she is.

My Thoughts: This was an excellent stotry, I see why it’s an award-winner. Although I’m not from an over-acheiving family, nor was I chubby, I could still relate to a lot of her experiences and feelings. This was a touching story. ( )