Book Description via Goodreads:
ARC,
271 pages
May
22, 2012, Running Press Kids
Charlie
is handed a crappy senior year. Despite losing thirty pounds over the summer,
he still gets called “Chunks” Grisner. What’s worse, he has to share a locker
with the biggest Lord of the Rings
freak his school has ever seen. He also can’t figure out whether Charlotte
VanderKleaton, the beautiful strawberry lip-glossed new girl, likes him the way
he likes her. Oh, and then there’s his mom. She’s disappeared—again—and his dad
won’t talk about it.
Somewhere between the madness, Charlie can at least find comfort in his one and only talent that just might get him out of this life-sucking place. But will he be able to hold his head above water in the meantime?
Somewhere between the madness, Charlie can at least find comfort in his one and only talent that just might get him out of this life-sucking place. But will he be able to hold his head above water in the meantime?
Source: Jenny Torres Sanchez & Kerry Sparks (Thank
you!)
My Thoughts:
Charlie Grisner
had just lost a whooping thirty pounds after staying at Fat Camp last summer.
He was obese, unconfident and down. He had suffered from the piercing stares,
the labeling and the harsh and disgusted whispers. But with his weight loss,
came the pressure of maintaining his weight and forgetting about his huge
appetite. But it wasn’t easy to do when every healthy low-fat meal felt like a
sacrifice and temptations were everywhere. I liked Charlie. He was flawed, with
hopes, desires, issues and problems. He dealt with his problems by keeping them
all inside. He was depressed and soon, it became apparent that he developed a
bad habit to make himself feel better.
Ahmed was
Charlie’s Turkish best friend. Hyper, energetic, weird and positive, he was
probably one of the most unique characters I’ve ever encountered in YA
literature. He was always there for Charlie even though Charlie was used to
bottling up everything inside of him. Ahmed was always giving advice,
encouraging Charlie and lightening up the mood. He injected humor and
eccentricity into the novel.
Charlotte,
the girl of Charlie’s dreams, was not easy to figure out. She was nice to him
and appeared to like him. But she kept hanging out with Mark, the school
dumbass who was fond of pulling pranks and putting Charlie down. As Charlotte
and Charlie spent more time together, he started to find out that Charlotte was
not who he thought her to be.
But even
though Charlie changed physically, deep inside he was still the same. He was
still the miserable guy with the miserable family. His mom had a habit of
leaving him and his father behind, not bothering to say goodbye, tell them
where she was going and when she was going back. Her Dad was always busy with
work and was keeping a secret from him and his mom. Just when he thought things
were bad, it became worse.
Being in
Charlie’s mind was a rollercoaster of suppressed emotions, trapped words and
squashed hopes. I winced, ached and worried along with him. The way he saw his
world, his home and his life was one of a kind. His reflections were pure and
honest.
The Downside of Being Charlie was an honest to
goodness contemporary novel. Honest, raw touching and gripping, I was sucked
into Charlie’s world. I felt for him and connected with him in a way that I
didn’t expect. The photography point of view was also a nice touch. I highly
recommend this to contemporary readers!
Rating:
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
That's a darn accurate review if ever I've read one. Like you, I loved Ahmed. He brought just the right touch of humor to Charlie's sad situation.
ReplyDeleteJenny really delivered with this book. She could've been preachy and heavy-handed when it came to dealing with tough stuff (and there was plenty of tough stuff to deal with) but instead she met it head-on and approached it how most of us would--if we weren't worried about how the world was going to judge us.