The Earth, My Butt, And Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Virginia Shreves is living a tough life. Being overweight in a family of perfect, popular, and fit people is hard. She is constantly being pressured to change who she is to please those around her. To make it worse, her best friend just moved across the country leaving Virginia to fend for her own in the vicious world of highschool. And her brother was found guilty of date rape. Her perfect, flawless brother let her down. Virginia's world is crashing down around her and if she doesn't do something fast, she's going to be lost in the tidal wave of lies, expectations, and troubles that are filling her life. Can she find a way to be herself and assert who she is in an unaccepting world?

Yes, I finally finished this book. It's not that it was hard to get through or anything, it's just that I listened to it on audiobook. I find it so much harder to listen to books than to read them because to listen to them, you have to have no distractions. I usually listen to music in the background and it's hard to have to focus completely on listening to something. On the other hand, I'm able to read with tons of distractions. I can tune out the world and get lost in a book so much easier, so I think I'm going to stick with that from now on. :) Anyways, this was a really good book! I really loved Virginia's unique voice and her cynicsm. I think the author approached the difficult topic of obesity in a great way. You could really get into the main character's mind and see the world through her eyes. The media definitely presents a distorted picture of the perfect body and I think that this book really proved that you don't have to look perfect to be happy. I especially liked Virginia's doctor. He was so open and didn't pressure her at all. He said that it isn't about having the perfect body, it's about feeling good about yourself, which I think is a great viewpoint. I enjoyed seeing Virginia discover who she was and showing her family and friends that she was unique and special and that she wasn't going to let anyone push her around. I think that everyone should think about themselves that way. I think that the ending was really satisfying also. I liked that Virginia used her own experiences to help others. Overall, this book was very good. I would highly recommend this as a book that will change your thinking on a difficult subject. It really opened my eyes.