Huge

Huge was an outstanding book. I enjoyed reading every page of this book. I am sure my students will, too. The best part is that there are so many things to discuss in this book: overweight/obese kids vs. nearly chubbies, rich kids vs. poor kids, cool kids vs. the outcast and parents' selfishness vs. kids' selfishness. I can not say enough about this book being a discussion book. One thing I adored was that every music group, magazine and pop culture items were current, such as the use of iPods, ibooks, 7-11, workout equipment and lets not forget the concert tickets to "Death Cab for Cutie". Below, like every other book I read, I suggest the focus group that should definitely read this book. Please understand everyone should read this book, big or small, just because it is a great book. The kids I suggest should read this book are: -Kids with parents who are into their own self image. -Overwieght students -Wealthy students (To realize that everything handed to them, it is not available to everyone.) -Kids that feel like outcast of the popular kids -Kids that trying to hard to fit into the popular crowd -Kids going away to summer camp -Kids who have to deal with a roommate -Single child families -Punk/Gothic students

HUGE deals with a topic that is apparently in the media more and more these days (though I myself haven't seen it much): fat camp. Wellness Canyon is a high-end fat camp where two very different girls, April and Wil, are paired as roommates. April has saved all year for this, despite a lack of support from her mom. She wants to lose some weight and gain the popularity she's always wanted. Wil wants to be anywhere but Wellness Canyon. Her wealthy parents have sent her there, as she's a public relations nightmare: they own the high-profile chain of Excalibur Gyms. Wil's revenge on them is to enter Wellness Canyon with a huge stash of sweets and be the first kid in camp history to actually gain weight while there. Of course, as it's full of teenagers with raging hormones, there's more than weight loss going on at Wellness Canyon. When April and Wil start crushing on the same guy, football-playing hottie Colin, their relationship gets even more tense. Can they make it through the summer together and maybe even become friends? A lot of HUGE is your typical summer camp story. Sasha Paley does a great job of creating at least two fleshed-out, interesting characters, though some secondary characters sometimes seem a little flat. Paley is a talented writer, but the popular-kids-are-mean message is maybe a little heavy, and, despite what the back cover says about learning to accept yourself, I felt like she was saying that being skinny is better than being fat, even if she never came out and said it. Despite this, though, HUGE is a fairly satisfying read, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Sasha Paley writes next! Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce