The Earth, My Butt and other BIG Round Things

Seriously...that has to be the best title ever. EVER! At least to a big girl like me, it is.

This book by Carolyn Mackler released in 2005 and I've only recently had the pleasure of reading it. It was banned for sexual content and other stupid reasons and all I can say is that the reasoning is stupid. I WISH I had this book when I was a teenager. I read it while I was laying my big fat white butt on the beach (trying to tan it, of course), while my sister sat beside me (hidden under an umbrella), and I just kept saying to her, "Oh my gawd. This is so me. I feel like I'm reading about myself."  Mackler hits the nail on the head. Here's what I mean.

Virginia Shreves is 15 years old and has about as much self-confidence as a rotten banana. She hates her body, her best friend moved a thousand miles away, her mother is obsessed with image, her dad just doesn't get it, her brother is an ass (but she still thinks the world of him), and her sister is completely absent. Oh, and she lets a guy feel her up once a week but believes in the "Fat Girl Code of Conduct" and insists that she must keep quiet about their affair to save his reputation. I mean...gosh! While she was trying to deal with all of that by first starving herself, then compulsive binging and constant emotional eating episodes, I swear I thought I was reading my own high school days. Not that I had the same issues, but I dealt with them in the same way. Binge, vomit, starve for 3 weeks, repeat. Anything to keep you from thinking about all those other things going on. And I love how Virginia comes to terms with it all, how she listens to others who deal with the same issues and figures out a solution to her insecurities. I never had that and I wish I had.

The Earth, my Butt and Other BIG Round Things is an absolute must for every mother of a teenage daughter. Even your baby girl is only a few years old, go ahead and put it on your shelf in preparation. You'll thank yourself in a few years.