15. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

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

ISBN: 0-7636-1958-2

Candlewick Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003

246 p.

Plot Summary

Fifteen-year-old Virginia Shreves is blond, overweight, and an average student, everything the rest of her family is not.  Without Virginia, her family would look picture-perfect.  Her mother is an adolescent psychologist, obsessed with exercise, and overly concerned with Virginia’s weight.  Similarly to her mother, her father is focused on women’s weight, always complementing skinny women on television.  Her older sister, Anais, is skinny, beautiful, and smart, but cannot handle dealing with their mother, so she goes off and joins the Peace Corp.  Virginia most idolizes her older brother, Byron, who is Mr. Popular on the Columbia campus.  Virginia’s sophomore year begins with her best friend moving across the country, quickly making new friends in Walla Walla, Washington.  Involved in a semi-relationship with Froggy Welsh the Fourth, Virginia lives by her “Fat Girl Code of Conduct,” keeping the relationship secret from the outside world.  However, the biggest event of the year happens when Byron gets suspended from Columbia and Virginia’s family will never be the same.

Critical Evaluation

Carolyn Mackler’s The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things creates a character so real that many teen girls (and not-quite-teen-anymore girls) can relate to her.  Influenced by the comments made by the majority of her family, Virginia Shreves has an incredibly low opinion of herself, even establishing the “Fat Girl Code of Conduct” for having relationships with boys, insisting that fat girls have to go further than skinny girls, but emphasizing that they should “never, ever, ever, ever, ever push the relationship thing” (p. 17).  Her inner monologue mirrors that of many self-conscious girls and seeing them expressed through Virginia gives validation that they are not alone.  One particularly heart-wrenching scene is when Virginia’s father gives her a full-length mirror in an effort to encourage her weight loss, but when she stands in front of it and takes her clothes off, she just feels even more self-hate.  However, the strongest theme comes through Virginia’s journey of learning to love herself.  Mackler mentions, “I get so many messages from readers telling me that The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things helped them feel better about themselves as they are, made them stop hurting their bodies, guided them through a difficult time in their lives, and made them feel less alone” (from author’s website: http://carolynmackler.com/The-Earth-My-Butt-and-Other-Big-Round-Things-by-Carolyn-Mackler.asp?id=behind).  Because Virginia is such a relatable character, seeing her fight back against the negative forces in her life and begin to eliminate her negative self-talk gives readers hope that they can accept themselves, too.

Reader's Annotation

Blond and overweight, Virginia has never fit in with the rest of her family.  However, everything changes once her “perfect” brother gets suspended from college.

Information About the Author

Carolyn Mackler is the author of the popular teen novels, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (A Michael L. Printz Honor Book), Tangled, Guyaholic, Vegan Virgin Valentine, and Love and Other Four-Letter Words.  Carolyn's novels have been published in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia.

Carolyn has contributed to magazines including Seventeen, Glamour, CosmoGIRL!, Girls' Life, Storyworks, and American Girl. She has a short story in Thirteen, edited by James Howe, and in Sixteen, edited by Megan McCafferty.  In 2008, Carolyn was a judge for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.  Carolyn lives in New York City with her husband and two young sons.  She is currently at work on her sixth novel. (information from the author’s website: http://carolynmackler.com/Carolyn-Mackler-Story.asp)

Genre

Young Adult – Realistic/Chick Lit

Curriculum Ties

English - Reading Comprehension and Literary Response and Analysis

Booktalking Ideas

1. Focus on the distance Virginia feels from her family.

2. Discuss the relationship between Virginia and Froggy.

3. Track Virginia’s journey of self-confidence.

4. Recount Virginia’s feelings when her father presents her with a full-length mirror for her room.

Reading Level/Interest Age

13+

Challenge Issues

The novel includes some profanity and sexual situations.

When confronted with complaints about this novel, librarians should become familiar with the material and its content.  Turn to reviews from publications such as Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, and Booklist, as well as reviews from teens that have read it.  Also, it is beneficial for librarians to present reasons backed by the ALA in support of intellectual freedom.  As stated in the Library Bill of Rights:

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

Why Include Book in Selection? 

I found this novel when listening to the Chick Lit group presentation for LIBR 265.