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Big Fat Manifesto
Jamie is a senior in high school and, like so many of her peers, doing too much. Unlike so many of her friends, she is enormously, irreversibly, sometimes angrily (and occasionally delightedly) overweight. Her most immediate need is a scholarship to college, so she writes an explosive and controversial column every week in the school paper about being fat. Soon, Jamie finds herself fighting for her rights as a very fat girl―and not quietly. As her column raises all kinds of public questions, so too must Jamie find her own private way in the world, with love popping up in an unexpected place, and satisfaction in her size losing ground to real frustration.
Tapping into her own experience with losing weight, her training as a psychotherapist, and the current fascination in the media with teens trying drastic weight-loss measures, Susan Vaught writes searing and hilarious prose that will grip readers while asking the most profound questions about life.
Tapping into her own experience with losing weight, her training as a psychotherapist, and the current fascination in the media with teens trying drastic weight-loss measures, Susan Vaught writes searing and hilarious prose that will grip readers while asking the most profound questions about life.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 26, 2007
24 people are currently reading
1307 people want to read
About the author
Susan Vaught
30 books206 followersWebsite: http://susanvaught.com
astrology sign: Libra
favorite book: Harry Potter (all of them) and His Dark Materials
(all of those, too)
favorite song:I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie
current pet total:12 if you don't count the chickens, peafowl,
turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, or guineas.
names of my schools:
Vanderbilt University (MS, Ph.D.)
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) (BA)
Germantown High School (Germantown, TN 9th-12th)
Germantown Middle School (Germantown, TN 8th)
Can't Remember, but the mascot was a purple dragon (Sandy Springs/Atlanta Georgia, 7th)
Green Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 6th) Frances Patterson was a very cool teacher there. I write because of her.
Pierce Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 3rd-5th)
Can't Remember, but it was big (Corinth, MS, 2nd)
Oxford Elementary (Oxford, MS, K-1st)
University of Mississippi (Day Care, Playschool)
astrology sign: Libra
favorite book: Harry Potter (all of them) and His Dark Materials
(all of those, too)
favorite song:I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie
current pet total:12 if you don't count the chickens, peafowl,
turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, or guineas.
names of my schools:
Vanderbilt University (MS, Ph.D.)
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) (BA)
Germantown High School (Germantown, TN 9th-12th)
Germantown Middle School (Germantown, TN 8th)
Can't Remember, but the mascot was a purple dragon (Sandy Springs/Atlanta Georgia, 7th)
Green Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 6th) Frances Patterson was a very cool teacher there. I write because of her.
Pierce Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 3rd-5th)
Can't Remember, but it was big (Corinth, MS, 2nd)
Oxford Elementary (Oxford, MS, K-1st)
University of Mississippi (Day Care, Playschool)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews
January 6, 2012
Jamie is your typical super busy senior in high school, except for the fact that she is morbidly obese. She feels that every fat girl book ends with the fat girl being skinny or well on her way to becoming skinny. Will her story have that ending?
Jamie has a boyfriend, Burke, who is also obese, and he tells her he is going to be getting gastric bypass surgery. Now Jamie has to wonder if she will keep her boyfriend once he gets thin on top of also worrying about studying for finals and how to pay for college. So she writes a manifesto and tries to win a scholarship. This paper is full of her stories of every day life living as a fat girl, her feelings about everything that goes on around her concerning her skinny friends, her boyfriend, and her family. She describes how she feels in a world that she truly feels discriminates against fat girls. The paper is full of humor as well, though, it's not a sob story. Jamie has a great attitude. The paper also has astounding statistics about the obesity problem in America,particularly with youths.
While all of this is going on Jamie claims that she is okay with her size, and doesn't like the pressure of considering gastric bypass for herself. She does consider it, but doesn't know if it's worth the risks. She says she doesn't mind being a funny, fat girl, but does she really? Vaught thoroughly does a superb job of showing Jamie's thoughts and emotions.
"Hold on to your super-sized butts, fat girls, because we're the last socially acceptable targets for bashing, snarking, and discrimination"
This is my second book by Susan Vaught, and I enjoyed this one as much as the first. The first was "Exposed" and that book warned against the dangers of teens meeting people online. Her books all deal with real teen issues, and she presents them in a way where they don't seem cliche. Both of her novels packed a punch, and really make you think. She's a very good YA writer, in my opinion, and I will continue to read her books.
Jamie has a boyfriend, Burke, who is also obese, and he tells her he is going to be getting gastric bypass surgery. Now Jamie has to wonder if she will keep her boyfriend once he gets thin on top of also worrying about studying for finals and how to pay for college. So she writes a manifesto and tries to win a scholarship. This paper is full of her stories of every day life living as a fat girl, her feelings about everything that goes on around her concerning her skinny friends, her boyfriend, and her family. She describes how she feels in a world that she truly feels discriminates against fat girls. The paper is full of humor as well, though, it's not a sob story. Jamie has a great attitude. The paper also has astounding statistics about the obesity problem in America,particularly with youths.
While all of this is going on Jamie claims that she is okay with her size, and doesn't like the pressure of considering gastric bypass for herself. She does consider it, but doesn't know if it's worth the risks. She says she doesn't mind being a funny, fat girl, but does she really? Vaught thoroughly does a superb job of showing Jamie's thoughts and emotions.
"Hold on to your super-sized butts, fat girls, because we're the last socially acceptable targets for bashing, snarking, and discrimination"
This is my second book by Susan Vaught, and I enjoyed this one as much as the first. The first was "Exposed" and that book warned against the dangers of teens meeting people online. Her books all deal with real teen issues, and she presents them in a way where they don't seem cliche. Both of her novels packed a punch, and really make you think. She's a very good YA writer, in my opinion, and I will continue to read her books.
January 22, 2011
I really wanted to like this. I was totally psyched to read a book with a smart, non-tragic, and unapologetically fat heroine. But it did that weird annoying thing socially concerned YA books often do where they're like "I'm political, but not TOO crazy! I just write stuff, I don't do any of that extreme activism like going to a rally!". It reminds me of the worst of the feminist blogosphere. Actually, you can definitely trace the influence of the less interesting parts of the online fat acceptance sphere in Jamie's political rhetoric.
Anyway, when protestors turn up in support of Jamie, she laughs it off, doesn't go talk to them, thinks they're crazy. She also has a neurotic skinny animal liberationist vegan friend who she seems to hate; why are they friends? I don't get it. The way Vegan Friend's neuroses are played for laughs is appallingly cruel; she spends hours trembling and glassy-eyed because she touched a woolen jumper (animal products), and we're supposed to find that funny? maybe in a book where everything is that over the top, but this novel takes a generally realistic tone, and it just comes off as lacking in compassion for someone with a probable mental illness. Plus the "skinny neurotic left-wing chick" thing is part of the same body-shaming culture that oppresses fat people, you know? Disclaimer: I am a neurotic left-wing vegan.
This distaste for radicalism is pretty insulting to the reader; your readers are probably going to be somewhat socially concerned young people, right? They're at least going to be curious about activism. Why ridicule it in an attempt to make yourself seem more moderate, or whatever?
I also really disliked how she has NONE of her own friends. Her two best friends are her boyfriend's friends who she hangs out with. They are pretty flat and tokenistic: the aforementioned vegan and a sassy lesbian whose sexuality never actually gets to impact the plot. Similarly, her boyfriend is black but this doesn't affect the plot or characterisation except that his sisters think he shouldn't be dating a white chick. It's kind of supposed to be a "reverse racism" thing, I think. It's not very cool that that's the only time racial tension is touched on.
Ok, good points! The way Vaught handled gastric band surgery was pretty cool. Jamie is angry at her boyfriend for choosing the dangerous procedure, he's a shithead to her, but there are no pat answers. I also liked that Jamie has an experience with being misquoted by a reporter; that whole plot point was pretty realistic and a warning to us all. At first Jamie came off as unrealistically self-confident, but in fact she was shown to struggle sometimes with living as a fat girl in an anti-fat world. I loved the detail that she never ate at school because she was embarassed to eat in front of other people; it was one of the few moments in the book that I found truly affecting, heartbreaking even.
mostly, though, this book just made me want to read "no fat chicks" by margaret clark instead. check it out.
Anyway, when protestors turn up in support of Jamie, she laughs it off, doesn't go talk to them, thinks they're crazy. She also has a neurotic skinny animal liberationist vegan friend who she seems to hate; why are they friends? I don't get it. The way Vegan Friend's neuroses are played for laughs is appallingly cruel; she spends hours trembling and glassy-eyed because she touched a woolen jumper (animal products), and we're supposed to find that funny? maybe in a book where everything is that over the top, but this novel takes a generally realistic tone, and it just comes off as lacking in compassion for someone with a probable mental illness. Plus the "skinny neurotic left-wing chick" thing is part of the same body-shaming culture that oppresses fat people, you know? Disclaimer: I am a neurotic left-wing vegan.
This distaste for radicalism is pretty insulting to the reader; your readers are probably going to be somewhat socially concerned young people, right? They're at least going to be curious about activism. Why ridicule it in an attempt to make yourself seem more moderate, or whatever?
I also really disliked how she has NONE of her own friends. Her two best friends are her boyfriend's friends who she hangs out with. They are pretty flat and tokenistic: the aforementioned vegan and a sassy lesbian whose sexuality never actually gets to impact the plot. Similarly, her boyfriend is black but this doesn't affect the plot or characterisation except that his sisters think he shouldn't be dating a white chick. It's kind of supposed to be a "reverse racism" thing, I think. It's not very cool that that's the only time racial tension is touched on.
Ok, good points! The way Vaught handled gastric band surgery was pretty cool. Jamie is angry at her boyfriend for choosing the dangerous procedure, he's a shithead to her, but there are no pat answers. I also liked that Jamie has an experience with being misquoted by a reporter; that whole plot point was pretty realistic and a warning to us all. At first Jamie came off as unrealistically self-confident, but in fact she was shown to struggle sometimes with living as a fat girl in an anti-fat world. I loved the detail that she never ate at school because she was embarassed to eat in front of other people; it was one of the few moments in the book that I found truly affecting, heartbreaking even.
mostly, though, this book just made me want to read "no fat chicks" by margaret clark instead. check it out.
September 20, 2012
4.5.
Jamie is a fat girl -- a very fat girl -- who writes about being a fat girl for her school's newspaper. She sees it as a way to prove people like her are normal and have the same feelings and experiences anyone else does. It's also, she hopes, a ticket to college since her family can't afford it otherwise.
This is my second Vaught book and I am sold her on as an author. Her characters have real voice and real heart, despite being flawed. Jamie isn't as confident as she makes herself sound in her column, but her insecurities don't stem from her weight. They stem from many other things, including her relationship with Burke. And Burke, who is himself obese, faces a dilemma of whether or not to undergo gastric bypass. Vaught handled this so realistically and honestly; there's no shying away from what bypass surgery is and the complications that can arise from it.
There are so many standout lines throughout the book about what it means to make choices and what it means to accept and love yourself despite your personal challenges. But never once does it fall into being a book with a Message.
This and Everything Beautiful are by far the two best books about body image and body acceptance I've read. Not just thin bodies, not just fat bodies. EVERY body.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/09/s...
Jamie is a fat girl -- a very fat girl -- who writes about being a fat girl for her school's newspaper. She sees it as a way to prove people like her are normal and have the same feelings and experiences anyone else does. It's also, she hopes, a ticket to college since her family can't afford it otherwise.
This is my second Vaught book and I am sold her on as an author. Her characters have real voice and real heart, despite being flawed. Jamie isn't as confident as she makes herself sound in her column, but her insecurities don't stem from her weight. They stem from many other things, including her relationship with Burke. And Burke, who is himself obese, faces a dilemma of whether or not to undergo gastric bypass. Vaught handled this so realistically and honestly; there's no shying away from what bypass surgery is and the complications that can arise from it.
There are so many standout lines throughout the book about what it means to make choices and what it means to accept and love yourself despite your personal challenges. But never once does it fall into being a book with a Message.
This and Everything Beautiful are by far the two best books about body image and body acceptance I've read. Not just thin bodies, not just fat bodies. EVERY body.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/09/s...
April 1, 2016
Where do I even start.
I rarely fail to finish books. When I do, it's usually because they are so mind-bogglingly boring that I can't finish.
And sometimes it's because they are so unbelievably infuriating that I actually get a headache and can't continue.
This book falls under category two.
I made it to about chapter three/four before finally forcing myself to put the book away before I could throw it out a window (if it were my own copy, I probably would have done just that, but it's a library book).
So, to recap:
-Jamie doesn't know anything about business. Just because "30% of the girls" in your town can't buy clothing from a particular store does not mean their is a terrible injustice going on. Businesses cater to the majority, not the minority, because that's how they make money, which is pretty much all they care about.
-Bonus: "Bigger sizes are more expensive" well no shit Sherlock, the more material and time to make it, the higher cost. This is not rocket science. This is basic frigging logic.
-Jamie is a jackass who (with Freddie) triggers NoNo's anxiety/panic issues regarding animal-skin products to make a scene (after promising her that she wouldn't have to touch any animal-based products, after KNOWING that she was on the edge of freaking out the moment she stepped into the store, and KNOWING that she was on medication in the past).
-Jamie is a jackass who thinks that because the word "fat" does not offend her means that it shouldn't offend anyone. Because lol it's not like that word has been used to hurt and demean some people, currently overweight or not, and they might actually have legit issues with its usage, right?
Oh, and another bonus from Chapter Three, because it was just too good.
-"Burke, doesn't my opinion count for anything?"
So basically what she's saying is, "Doesn't my opinion of how you look count for what you choose to do with your body?"
Do me a favor: Reverse the genders. Pretend it's Burke asking Jamie that. Everyone would be screaming "SEXISM!!!" in a heartbeat if a boy was telling a girl to do/not do something because of what he thought of her appearance.
And again: Jamie is a jackass, because what Burke does with his body is his business. Not hers. And she's pissed of that he didn't "discuss it with [her] first", because, you know, she deserves some control over her BOYFRIEND'S body, right??? If he's unhappy with his weight, it's his prerogative to get something done about it. But see, Jamie likes that he's overweight, so Jamie doesn't think he should do it.
This was the moment where I had to put down the book.
Jamie tries to guilt and shame him out of making this decision which- for better or worse- is his to make. It's Burke's body. Not hers.
And despite this, he tries to soothe her and say "Go ahead and write about this in your column if you want, it's totally not shitty of you to guilt and shame me for a personal decision about my health, and it's totally not a bad sign that I didn't even feel safe telling you about this ahead of time because I was afraid that you would react exactly the way you have."
Because that is totally an indicator of a healthy relationship, right? Fearing your partner's reaction to a personal decision you choose to make about your body?
Overall: Jamie is a jackass.
Does she change? Don't know, don't care, not going to subject myself to this book to find out.
Especially not when I strongly suspect, just based on what I've seen of Jamie thus far, that there's going to be
-body-shaming against smaller girls (which we get a glimpse of in "Fat Girl Fuming Part II" when she calls NoNo a "stick-bug")
-more crappy treatment of NoNo and her anxiety problems
-preaching about women
-preaching about obesity and how it's really just people being concerned about looks rather than health.
I rarely fail to finish books. When I do, it's usually because they are so mind-bogglingly boring that I can't finish.
And sometimes it's because they are so unbelievably infuriating that I actually get a headache and can't continue.
This book falls under category two.
I made it to about chapter three/four before finally forcing myself to put the book away before I could throw it out a window (if it were my own copy, I probably would have done just that, but it's a library book).
So, to recap:
-Jamie doesn't know anything about business. Just because "30% of the girls" in your town can't buy clothing from a particular store does not mean their is a terrible injustice going on. Businesses cater to the majority, not the minority, because that's how they make money, which is pretty much all they care about.
-Bonus: "Bigger sizes are more expensive" well no shit Sherlock, the more material and time to make it, the higher cost. This is not rocket science. This is basic frigging logic.
-Jamie is a jackass who (with Freddie) triggers NoNo's anxiety/panic issues regarding animal-skin products to make a scene (after promising her that she wouldn't have to touch any animal-based products, after KNOWING that she was on the edge of freaking out the moment she stepped into the store, and KNOWING that she was on medication in the past).
-Jamie is a jackass who thinks that because the word "fat" does not offend her means that it shouldn't offend anyone. Because lol it's not like that word has been used to hurt and demean some people, currently overweight or not, and they might actually have legit issues with its usage, right?
Oh, and another bonus from Chapter Three, because it was just too good.
-"Burke, doesn't my opinion count for anything?"
So basically what she's saying is, "Doesn't my opinion of how you look count for what you choose to do with your body?"
Do me a favor: Reverse the genders. Pretend it's Burke asking Jamie that. Everyone would be screaming "SEXISM!!!" in a heartbeat if a boy was telling a girl to do/not do something because of what he thought of her appearance.
And again: Jamie is a jackass, because what Burke does with his body is his business. Not hers. And she's pissed of that he didn't "discuss it with [her] first", because, you know, she deserves some control over her BOYFRIEND'S body, right??? If he's unhappy with his weight, it's his prerogative to get something done about it. But see, Jamie likes that he's overweight, so Jamie doesn't think he should do it.
This was the moment where I had to put down the book.
Jamie tries to guilt and shame him out of making this decision which- for better or worse- is his to make. It's Burke's body. Not hers.
And despite this, he tries to soothe her and say "Go ahead and write about this in your column if you want, it's totally not shitty of you to guilt and shame me for a personal decision about my health, and it's totally not a bad sign that I didn't even feel safe telling you about this ahead of time because I was afraid that you would react exactly the way you have."
Because that is totally an indicator of a healthy relationship, right? Fearing your partner's reaction to a personal decision you choose to make about your body?
Overall: Jamie is a jackass.
Does she change? Don't know, don't care, not going to subject myself to this book to find out.
Especially not when I strongly suspect, just based on what I've seen of Jamie thus far, that there's going to be
-body-shaming against smaller girls (which we get a glimpse of in "Fat Girl Fuming Part II" when she calls NoNo a "stick-bug")
-more crappy treatment of NoNo and her anxiety problems
-preaching about women
-preaching about obesity and how it's really just people being concerned about looks rather than health.
March 8, 2009
Being fat isn’t easy. Clothes don’t fit you. People stare at you or pretend that you are not there; they feel uncomfortable around you. They whisper, wondering if you know how big you are and, if so, why don’t you just do something about it?
Jamie Carcaterra knows how it feels first hand how it feels to be fat, and frankly she is sick of how people act around her. She knows she is overweight. She is fat. In fact, she is Fat Girl, author of the Fat Girl features in her school newspaper, The Wire. Started as a way to win a journalism scholarship, she uses her column to explore what it’s like to be fat in such a weight obsessed, skinny world, as well as to dispel myths such as “Poor Fat Girl needs to be educated about her problem” and “all Poor Fat Girl wants to do is lose weight”.
However, column and her life take an unforeseeable turn when her boyfriend Burke decided to undergo a risky gastric bypass surgery. Now Jamie is forced to think about the questions that really matter. Will Burke still love her when he’s thin? Is being fat all she is? Is she really committed to being the “fat girl activist spokesperson”? And why does it seem like Heath, her co-editor on the paper, might like her as more than just a friend? Doesn’t he know she’s fat?
Although at times a bit predictable and preachy, Vaught has written a funny yet thoughtful look at what it’s like to be a Fat Girl in today’s world.
Jamie Carcaterra knows how it feels first hand how it feels to be fat, and frankly she is sick of how people act around her. She knows she is overweight. She is fat. In fact, she is Fat Girl, author of the Fat Girl features in her school newspaper, The Wire. Started as a way to win a journalism scholarship, she uses her column to explore what it’s like to be fat in such a weight obsessed, skinny world, as well as to dispel myths such as “Poor Fat Girl needs to be educated about her problem” and “all Poor Fat Girl wants to do is lose weight”.
However, column and her life take an unforeseeable turn when her boyfriend Burke decided to undergo a risky gastric bypass surgery. Now Jamie is forced to think about the questions that really matter. Will Burke still love her when he’s thin? Is being fat all she is? Is she really committed to being the “fat girl activist spokesperson”? And why does it seem like Heath, her co-editor on the paper, might like her as more than just a friend? Doesn’t he know she’s fat?
Although at times a bit predictable and preachy, Vaught has written a funny yet thoughtful look at what it’s like to be a Fat Girl in today’s world.
December 29, 2014
Eh. Narrator is tired of everything, all the time, being about how fat she is ... so she starts writing a column for her school newspaper about being fat. She hopes the column will be enough to get her a scholarship for college, because there's no other way she'll get to go, and I'm like, there are these things called student loans that are not hard to get, and yeah, you don't want to go into crazy debt, but don't act like this one particular scholarship is the only possible way you can pay for college! OK, now that that's off my chest -- the book was OK. There were a lot of little things (like the scholarship) that struck me as just off enough that I couldn't really get into it. Also, the friends were caricatures, not fully realized characters.
October 20, 2015
1.5 stars
I had high expectations for this book, and was sorely disappointed.
The author was whiny, and I swear to god, every time she talked I wanted to violently hit my head against the wall
A better, more thorough review later
I had high expectations for this book, and was sorely disappointed.
The author was whiny, and I swear to god, every time she talked I wanted to violently hit my head against the wall
A better, more thorough review later
February 19, 2014
Not bad. I enjoyed the story, but was irritated by a lot of fence sitting over fat politics. Particularly annoyed by the suggestion that fat activists are somehow aggressive or extreme.
December 22, 2008
Jamie Carcaterra is fat – not just overweight, but obese. And she’s sick of people thinking that it’s ok to cut her (and other fat people) down for it. While she’s mostly well-adjusted and self-confident, Jamie feels that other people should know what it’s like to be the fat girl, so she starts writing a column for her school newspaper as a means to air her feelings on the subject and educate others (it also wouldn’t hurt if she can use her column to win some scholarship money either). Jamie’s column becomes surprisingly popular and starts to attract a lot of attention – even outside of school. After the local news station learns about Jamie’s column on Hot Chix (a popular clothing store for thin teenage girls), they interview her and then edit the footage to make her look as bad as possible. Jamie’s incensed. It doesn’t stop there, however. In the midst of all of this, Jamie’s boyfriend Burke (also fat), gets bariatric surgery to lose weight. Jamie is scared that the surgery will kill him, and if it doesn’t, she worries that once he’s thin, he won’t want her anymore.
Jamie’s fears aren’t unwarranted. The surgery totally changes Burke (at least for the time being) and all he can think about is how much weight he’s losing and how others perceive the new him. And this translates into pep talks for Jamie – you know, you could lose weight, too. And that really hurts her. She worries about his health, too – there can be lots of complications from the surgery and long term effects aren’t known – but it’s too much to think about all the time. Surprisingly (and refreshingly) it’s Jamie who finds someone else first. Her co-editor, Heath, finds her attractive and doesn’t think she needs fixing. Burke goes ballistic when Jamie tells him, but it feels like it’s for the best.
This was a really good (and somewhat different) look at the politics of fat. Jamie’s columns do more than educate her schoolmates – they educate her readers, too, and humanize the fat condition. Jamie is still working through a lot of these issues, too, so her turmoil should bring up a lot of discussion. It’s easy to miss or dismiss these issues if you’re not fat, and Jamie (and Susan Vaught) does a great job showing how the skinny mentality affects everyone – and not just fat people. For once, I was relieved to find that “fat” wasn’t a size 12, and that the fat girl didn’t suddenly lose lots of weight and become skinny and then find that her life was so much better. She stays fat, and acknowledges that she wishes she weren’t, but that changing her body isn’t something she can do (right now, or maybe ever), so she’s trying to stay positive. It’s really hard to do that when everyone seems to be against you.
I’m not sure how many teenage girls will pick this one up. It’s really good, but the stigma of being fat is really bad. And how many kids are going to care about Jamie’s problems? How many will be sympathetic to her cause? It almost seems like this would appeal more to college-aged women – or at least girls who are more open to body image issues, feminism, etc. It’s not easy to be different or be an activist in high school. At least, not about fat.
Jamie’s fears aren’t unwarranted. The surgery totally changes Burke (at least for the time being) and all he can think about is how much weight he’s losing and how others perceive the new him. And this translates into pep talks for Jamie – you know, you could lose weight, too. And that really hurts her. She worries about his health, too – there can be lots of complications from the surgery and long term effects aren’t known – but it’s too much to think about all the time. Surprisingly (and refreshingly) it’s Jamie who finds someone else first. Her co-editor, Heath, finds her attractive and doesn’t think she needs fixing. Burke goes ballistic when Jamie tells him, but it feels like it’s for the best.
This was a really good (and somewhat different) look at the politics of fat. Jamie’s columns do more than educate her schoolmates – they educate her readers, too, and humanize the fat condition. Jamie is still working through a lot of these issues, too, so her turmoil should bring up a lot of discussion. It’s easy to miss or dismiss these issues if you’re not fat, and Jamie (and Susan Vaught) does a great job showing how the skinny mentality affects everyone – and not just fat people. For once, I was relieved to find that “fat” wasn’t a size 12, and that the fat girl didn’t suddenly lose lots of weight and become skinny and then find that her life was so much better. She stays fat, and acknowledges that she wishes she weren’t, but that changing her body isn’t something she can do (right now, or maybe ever), so she’s trying to stay positive. It’s really hard to do that when everyone seems to be against you.
I’m not sure how many teenage girls will pick this one up. It’s really good, but the stigma of being fat is really bad. And how many kids are going to care about Jamie’s problems? How many will be sympathetic to her cause? It almost seems like this would appeal more to college-aged women – or at least girls who are more open to body image issues, feminism, etc. It’s not easy to be different or be an activist in high school. At least, not about fat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2014
I'm reading 5-6 YA books about body image and eating disorders for an honors course. I was probably most excited about this one, and I took two pages of notes as I read it. I'll try to compress them here.
Pros:
- Jamie is a confident fat girl whose confidence doesn't magically free her from cultural fatphobia, so sometimes she still struggles (e.g., fitting room cries)
- Introduces readers to the idea that most of the "misery" that comes with being fat is society's fault, not the fat person's
- Vaught addresses some really important examples of this in Jamie's life, such as receiving inadequate medical attention because it is assumed that all of a fat person's problems can be solved by losing weight
- One of Jamie's friends is gay (or bi) and it is presented very casually so yay for representation
Cons:
- I know I kind of listed this as a pro, but I got frustrated with Jamie so much because she was actually rather insecure. I think I came into this book expecting Fat Girl (the "character" who writes her column), who doesn't always match Jamie. Jamie still compares herself to her friends, still wants to lose weight, hasn't eaten in front of people since 5th grade, isn't actually totally opposed to surgery for herself, equates being fat with having cancer, does the whole "denying that someone could be attracted to me" thing, etc. I understand the point of this and that it is important character complexity, but it's mostly why I didn't enjoy reading this.
- So even though the very first column she writes addresses the myth that all fat people are miserable and hate themselves and want your advice about losing weight, Jamie herself sometimes fulfills that stereotype. It's okay to be stereotypical, but I was overwhelmed by the knowledge that some people will read this and view it as evidence that the stereotype secretly does apply to everyone, and that confident fat people are just lying to themselves.
- Another stereotype that this book doesn't handle well: all fat people have wildly different eating habits than "normal people," such as 4 chocolate bars as a regular snack, and it's totally everyone's business. I have a feeling that the other books with fat protoganists on my list will make a much larger spectacle of the character's diet than this one, though. Tired of this trope.
- The few moments where her boyfriend's race is addressed... His sisters essentially only dislike Jamie because she's white? Is this supposed to be scary "reverse racism"? Also, Jamie addresses the issue that black people are three times more likely to die from bariatric surgery but "doctors don't know why." Well, sociologists do.
Anyway, "it was okay" sums my feelings up pretty well, so 2 stars.
Pros:
- Jamie is a confident fat girl whose confidence doesn't magically free her from cultural fatphobia, so sometimes she still struggles (e.g., fitting room cries)
- Introduces readers to the idea that most of the "misery" that comes with being fat is society's fault, not the fat person's
- Vaught addresses some really important examples of this in Jamie's life, such as receiving inadequate medical attention because it is assumed that all of a fat person's problems can be solved by losing weight
- One of Jamie's friends is gay (or bi) and it is presented very casually so yay for representation
Cons:
- I know I kind of listed this as a pro, but I got frustrated with Jamie so much because she was actually rather insecure. I think I came into this book expecting Fat Girl (the "character" who writes her column), who doesn't always match Jamie. Jamie still compares herself to her friends, still wants to lose weight, hasn't eaten in front of people since 5th grade, isn't actually totally opposed to surgery for herself, equates being fat with having cancer, does the whole "denying that someone could be attracted to me" thing, etc. I understand the point of this and that it is important character complexity, but it's mostly why I didn't enjoy reading this.
- So even though the very first column she writes addresses the myth that all fat people are miserable and hate themselves and want your advice about losing weight, Jamie herself sometimes fulfills that stereotype. It's okay to be stereotypical, but I was overwhelmed by the knowledge that some people will read this and view it as evidence that the stereotype secretly does apply to everyone, and that confident fat people are just lying to themselves.
- Another stereotype that this book doesn't handle well: all fat people have wildly different eating habits than "normal people," such as 4 chocolate bars as a regular snack, and it's totally everyone's business. I have a feeling that the other books with fat protoganists on my list will make a much larger spectacle of the character's diet than this one, though. Tired of this trope.
- The few moments where her boyfriend's race is addressed... His sisters essentially only dislike Jamie because she's white? Is this supposed to be scary "reverse racism"? Also, Jamie addresses the issue that black people are three times more likely to die from bariatric surgery but "doctors don't know why." Well, sociologists do.
Anyway, "it was okay" sums my feelings up pretty well, so 2 stars.
September 8, 2010
I read this book for my Pre-AP English class. It was actually pretty good, I enjoyed it. Though it did get boring sometimes, so that's why I gave it four stars instead of five.
The conflict of this book, involving the main character Jamie Carcaterra, dealt with her trying to finish up senior year and getting into a good college. In which she would need and wanted to win the NFA (National Feature Award) for "outstanding journalism promoting the public well-being," a scholarship to the journalism program of her choice. But alas, bigger problems erupt right when Jamie thought things were going to work out well. Her boyfriend Burke Westin decides to go ahead with gastric bypass surgery to seem "normal", leaving Jamie worried, confused, and angry. Mixed feelings, nonetheless. She even develops a crush on her partner of the school's newspaper, Heath Montel. Along the way, Jamie's newspaper article, Fat Girl Manifesto is pushing huge publicity, forcing Jamie to struggle with everything on her mind.
The most dynamic characters in this story were Burke Westin and Jamie Carcaterra. Burke with his major, life-threatening surgery, and Jamie with her struggles throughout the entire book. All the rest of the characters, even though many were very important, didn't exactly change in an important way.
In my opinion, the theme of this story was probably, even though you go through many struggles throughout your life, you can always make the best of it if you try your hardest. Even though you'll make many mistakes, you will learn from them and move on to be a better you. I'm pretty sure you'll be happy with what you choose too. I truly think that's how Jamie got through everything in the book. She did have to make some tough decisions, and she struggled a lot. But she got better at things and moved forward, hoping for the best.
The conflict of this book, involving the main character Jamie Carcaterra, dealt with her trying to finish up senior year and getting into a good college. In which she would need and wanted to win the NFA (National Feature Award) for "outstanding journalism promoting the public well-being," a scholarship to the journalism program of her choice. But alas, bigger problems erupt right when Jamie thought things were going to work out well. Her boyfriend Burke Westin decides to go ahead with gastric bypass surgery to seem "normal", leaving Jamie worried, confused, and angry. Mixed feelings, nonetheless. She even develops a crush on her partner of the school's newspaper, Heath Montel. Along the way, Jamie's newspaper article, Fat Girl Manifesto is pushing huge publicity, forcing Jamie to struggle with everything on her mind.
The most dynamic characters in this story were Burke Westin and Jamie Carcaterra. Burke with his major, life-threatening surgery, and Jamie with her struggles throughout the entire book. All the rest of the characters, even though many were very important, didn't exactly change in an important way.
In my opinion, the theme of this story was probably, even though you go through many struggles throughout your life, you can always make the best of it if you try your hardest. Even though you'll make many mistakes, you will learn from them and move on to be a better you. I'm pretty sure you'll be happy with what you choose too. I truly think that's how Jamie got through everything in the book. She did have to make some tough decisions, and she struggled a lot. But she got better at things and moved forward, hoping for the best.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2009
This book was fabulous. It completely captured the truth of most teens, who pretend to be fine with who they are, even defensive of it, but deep down hate everything about it and want nothing more than change.
Jamie sets out to break myths about fat girls, and denounces several myths through out the book in her Fat Girl's Manifesto articles, but also reveals several of her insecurities about whether or not 'normal' people really want the fat girl to be their friend or girlfriend.
The only reason it doesn't get five stars is for bad journalism. Jamie complains several times in her articles about TV reporters who twist her words and dis her and her article on television. I'm sorry, but, honey, if you're going to write about something controversial, like your weight, you're going to have to get used to people hating on you. You can't react to it, at least, not in print. That's not good journalism.
Jamie sets out to break myths about fat girls, and denounces several myths through out the book in her Fat Girl's Manifesto articles, but also reveals several of her insecurities about whether or not 'normal' people really want the fat girl to be their friend or girlfriend.
The only reason it doesn't get five stars is for bad journalism. Jamie complains several times in her articles about TV reporters who twist her words and dis her and her article on television. I'm sorry, but, honey, if you're going to write about something controversial, like your weight, you're going to have to get used to people hating on you. You can't react to it, at least, not in print. That's not good journalism.
March 17, 2018
I really liked how Vaught incorporated fat positivity into YA, and the use of the column as a place to get in those needed rants without feeling quite so didactic. WLS is so rarely discussed and critiqued, so that was lovely to see.
That said, as other reviews have noted, the boyfriend is Black, but we only know this because he had his dreads cut off - he appears to be Black for diversity in name purposes, without looking into how that would impact his story. Also, the vegan character is more of a caricature. Oh, and the "fat is the last acceptance prejudice" hoopla comes up. And a "Sultan and Sultana" photo dress up scene early on. So some issues.
But also? I really enjoyed reading it. SO, four stars and a call for MORE FAT KIDS IN YA LIT!!!
That said, as other reviews have noted, the boyfriend is Black, but we only know this because he had his dreads cut off - he appears to be Black for diversity in name purposes, without looking into how that would impact his story. Also, the vegan character is more of a caricature. Oh, and the "fat is the last acceptance prejudice" hoopla comes up. And a "Sultan and Sultana" photo dress up scene early on. So some issues.
But also? I really enjoyed reading it. SO, four stars and a call for MORE FAT KIDS IN YA LIT!!!
May 7, 2013
Unabashedly brilliant. I love the complexity, strength, and voice of the main character. Jamie is snarky and sassy, a teen activist for fat rights and fat acceptance... but no matter how strong a person's convictions, life always has a way of making her question the things she is most sure of. What I love about this book is how it acknowledged Jamie's struggles with her identity as a Proud Fat Girl without in any way taking away from that identity and her main message. You get to know the real person behind the face she shows the world-- and seeing her vulnerabilities and uncertainties only makes her more admirable.
July 23, 2008
A big departure from TRIGGER, BIG FAT MANIFESTO tells the story of Jamie, who writes a "fat manifesto" for the school newspaper, detailing the prejudice against fat people and her own experiences. When her "large" boyfriend decides to get surgery to shrink his stomach, Jamie goes through a lot of soul-searching to figure out who she really is and how she feels about herself. Jamie is a funny, strong, fabulous character and the book is a wonderful read.
August 1, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn in by the main character, who starts out with an "I'm fat and I don't care who knows it" attitude, but during the course of the novel, reveals progressively more of her true feelings and vulnerability. A great lesson in how to effectively use a first-person narrator.
December 13, 2013
Best YA book I've read in a very long time, wonderful characters and great plot.
September 11, 2020
Jamie Carcaterra is in her senior year in high school. She’s involved in the school newspaper, has a part in the school play, wants to study journalism at college, has two best friends, NoNo and Freddie, and is very much in love with her boyfriend Burke. Also, she is fat.
As a way to deal with this she starts a column, Fat Girl, in which she conceives the alter ego for herself, with the intention of telling people how fat people are treated in society. At the same time Burke decides to undergo bariatric surgery in order to lose weight, something that tortures Jamie since they won’t be able to share meals together, but also because deep down she’s worried she will be too fat for him.
Jamie is quite the realistic teenager, trying to put on a brave face, which she does through her Fat Girl persona, but struggles with insecurities and doubt. She ponders why a Fat Girl never gets to play the lead on stage, a feeling she has throughout her own life as well. As a teenager, she does make some stupid decisions and part of me was frustrated that she couldn’t really see that she was occasionally self-sabotaging. Which brings me to Freddie, who acts as the voice of reason to Jamie and calling her out. I really liked Freddie as a character, even though Jamie, the narrator, put her down from time to time. NoNo really wasn’t given a fair description as Jamie seemed to have conflicting feelings about her as a person and as a friend.
The book tells of the struggles of being fat, but also the struggles of being a teenager. Being way past my teens, I do think Jamie was acting very immature at times and not owning up to her own accountability. But I did like that while she put on her persona, inside she still harboured doubts and gave bariatric surgery lots of thoughts.
As a way to deal with this she starts a column, Fat Girl, in which she conceives the alter ego for herself, with the intention of telling people how fat people are treated in society. At the same time Burke decides to undergo bariatric surgery in order to lose weight, something that tortures Jamie since they won’t be able to share meals together, but also because deep down she’s worried she will be too fat for him.
Jamie is quite the realistic teenager, trying to put on a brave face, which she does through her Fat Girl persona, but struggles with insecurities and doubt. She ponders why a Fat Girl never gets to play the lead on stage, a feeling she has throughout her own life as well. As a teenager, she does make some stupid decisions and part of me was frustrated that she couldn’t really see that she was occasionally self-sabotaging. Which brings me to Freddie, who acts as the voice of reason to Jamie and calling her out. I really liked Freddie as a character, even though Jamie, the narrator, put her down from time to time. NoNo really wasn’t given a fair description as Jamie seemed to have conflicting feelings about her as a person and as a friend.
The book tells of the struggles of being fat, but also the struggles of being a teenager. Being way past my teens, I do think Jamie was acting very immature at times and not owning up to her own accountability. But I did like that while she put on her persona, inside she still harboured doubts and gave bariatric surgery lots of thoughts.
May 2, 2018
Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught is a great read. The main character Jaime is really easy to relate to and put yourself in her shoes. The book is in first person from Jaime’s point of view, the way she explains things gives the reader the opportunity to put their self in her shoes. She explains what it is like to be a fat girl in modern society and what effects it has on her day to day life. Jaime is a senior in highschool trying to go to college and get scholarships. The main scholarship she is working on is a column in her school’s newspaper titled Fat Girl where she tells her fellow classmates that she doesn’t hate herself and she isn’t ashamed to be overweight. Throughout the book the reader sees her true feelings and her struggle with her personal struggle with her weight. Her boyfriend undergoes bariatric surgery to lose weight and she struggles on weather or not that would be a good option for her. She struggles internally but is too afraid to tell her family, friends, or her boyfriend about how she actually perceives herself. Jaime just wants to be a normal girl and shop at local stores that other teenagers shop at without feeling out of place. She wants to be able to be in school plays without acting as the villian who is fat and awful, sometimes she just wants to be the princess. I love that the book goes back and forth between her actual feelings and how she wants people to think she feels.
October 11, 2023
This book made me irritated from the beginning. We all knew that she was going to inevitably cheat on her boyfriend, since Heath's character and *descriptions* weren't there for nothing. I don't support cheating on any basis, no matter if you're morbidly fat or stick-thin. I don't think this character has any flavor or depth to her, since all you hear is endless descriptions about how she DOESN'T want to change, and complaining about ever little thing. There's a reason that the world is not made for you, because the majority of people in the world are not morbidly obese. I also didn't appreciate how her character didn't really experience any sort of external change throughout the entirety of the book. Her ex-boyfriend Burke did, and she just couldn't hop onto the change-train and hope for a better life for herself. I honestly didn't believe her when she started saying those diet trainings didn't work for her. Jamie is a complete jackass, to herself and to her friends. She barely hung out with her friends (I get she was busy, but she obviously made time to make-out with Heath) or respected them until they told her she was being a brat to her face.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2020
Jamie is fat. She knows it, everyone else knows it, and soon even more people are going to know it because her plan for getting into the journalism program she wants to attend is to write a column about being a fat teenager. Except things get complicated when her also overweight boyfriend decides to get gastric bypass surgery.
There are pros and cons to this book. Outwardly, Jamie is unapologetic about her weight and the difficulties it causes in her life. But inside, she's still a typical insecure teenager with very complicated feelings. There's a little bit of push and pull there. She's not very good at treating her friends/boyfriend well, which is a con. Other people's concerns seem to take a back seat to hers. Activism is also treated strangely -- when it aligns with her goals, she's all for it, but you can almost see the eye rolls every time her friend NoNo (who is fiercely vegan) is discussed.
I enjoyed the read, despite its flaws. But I think there are probably better "fat positive" books out there.
There are pros and cons to this book. Outwardly, Jamie is unapologetic about her weight and the difficulties it causes in her life. But inside, she's still a typical insecure teenager with very complicated feelings. There's a little bit of push and pull there. She's not very good at treating her friends/boyfriend well, which is a con. Other people's concerns seem to take a back seat to hers. Activism is also treated strangely -- when it aligns with her goals, she's all for it, but you can almost see the eye rolls every time her friend NoNo (who is fiercely vegan) is discussed.
I enjoyed the read, despite its flaws. But I think there are probably better "fat positive" books out there.
March 30, 2021
BOOKS I OWN BUT NEVER READ 3/?
How long have I owned it? I bought it at a library sale between four and five years ago. Damn you 2016 Maddy and your secondhand-book-buying rampages!
I got the sense early on that I would not really like this book, but I kept reading with some tenacity that could surely be better used elsewhere and a hint of spite at the protagonist for annoying me. Her voice just grated on me, especially at the beginning, then maybe it got better or I just got used to it. Maybe I'm too old to read books about high school unless they're really good ones. I could see what was going to happen from the start. I knew Heath was going to become the love interest as soon as he was described. I didn't like how constantly she insulted her friend NoNo (in narration, and only sometimes to her face)(I mean, it's true being vegan/ being an activist of any kind was more niche in 2008, but come on). Maybe that was her big lesson to learn/ main character flaw of being brash in her judgements, but I just didn't have much patience with her learning it.
How long have I owned it? I bought it at a library sale between four and five years ago. Damn you 2016 Maddy and your secondhand-book-buying rampages!
I got the sense early on that I would not really like this book, but I kept reading with some tenacity that could surely be better used elsewhere and a hint of spite at the protagonist for annoying me. Her voice just grated on me, especially at the beginning, then maybe it got better or I just got used to it. Maybe I'm too old to read books about high school unless they're really good ones. I could see what was going to happen from the start. I knew Heath was going to become the love interest as soon as he was described. I didn't like how constantly she insulted her friend NoNo (in narration, and only sometimes to her face)(I mean, it's true being vegan/ being an activist of any kind was more niche in 2008, but come on). Maybe that was her big lesson to learn/ main character flaw of being brash in her judgements, but I just didn't have much patience with her learning it.
December 19, 2017
This was an AMAZING book!
Susan Vaught is an amazing author! Her words are so strong and heart felt. I used to hate reading but when I read the first page of this book it opened my eyes to the new world of books. I'd like to say that I discovered my genre thanks to this great book. I found it relate-able in so many ways even though I don't consider myself as fat.
If you have no idea what its like to be a fat girl or want to know what they think about themselves then I strongly suggest you read this book. I pretty much found myself in this story. I never thought a fat girl can have a better love life than most people I know. The story kept me on my toes, if anything I wish I met Jamie in real life. I'm glad I read this book and I will read it again and again until I'm able to quote from it. Thank you so much Susan, you taught me what it's like to love reading.
Sincerely, the authors quiet fan
Susan Vaught is an amazing author! Her words are so strong and heart felt. I used to hate reading but when I read the first page of this book it opened my eyes to the new world of books. I'd like to say that I discovered my genre thanks to this great book. I found it relate-able in so many ways even though I don't consider myself as fat.
If you have no idea what its like to be a fat girl or want to know what they think about themselves then I strongly suggest you read this book. I pretty much found myself in this story. I never thought a fat girl can have a better love life than most people I know. The story kept me on my toes, if anything I wish I met Jamie in real life. I'm glad I read this book and I will read it again and again until I'm able to quote from it. Thank you so much Susan, you taught me what it's like to love reading.
Sincerely, the authors quiet fan
April 26, 2018
Wow, what a book!!! By the second page, I was hooked. This was written in 2008 but it sounded like a book that could’ve been released today, because of the body positive language and beliefs. Really great story and protagonist! The only thing that bummed me out a bit was that towards the end, there was quite a bit of the belief of: I’m fat and I will stand up for my dignity but yes of course I’d rather be skinny.
Which to me is not really part of BoPo. Wanting to be skinny still instills feelings of inadequacy in marginalized bodies and tells the world: I’ll talk about what it’s like to be fat, but I wish I wasn’t. Which I guess just isn’t as powerful as: I’m fat and I’m okay with that.
THAT BEING SAID: there is no right or wrong way to feel about your body and everyone is on their own journey and my intention is not to criticize people who are struggling to love their body. I think this book is still very powerful and illuminating and body positive. Definitely a must-read!
Which to me is not really part of BoPo. Wanting to be skinny still instills feelings of inadequacy in marginalized bodies and tells the world: I’ll talk about what it’s like to be fat, but I wish I wasn’t. Which I guess just isn’t as powerful as: I’m fat and I’m okay with that.
THAT BEING SAID: there is no right or wrong way to feel about your body and everyone is on their own journey and my intention is not to criticize people who are struggling to love their body. I think this book is still very powerful and illuminating and body positive. Definitely a must-read!
May 4, 2017
I had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. Maybe 3.5?
While reading I felt a push to keep reading! I wanted to find out what was going to happen, but by the end I'm not sure I felt satisfied. They was also A LOT of PG 13 language that wasn't making me love it. But I felt I learned a lot about the life of obese people and what they have to deal with. I go away a better person with that knowledge so that I can have more compassion.
The love triangle was entertaining.
So would I recommend this? No? I'm not sure. It's definitely geared for a high school audience, and I could see them liking this a lot. But I'm not sure the final taste in my mouth was sweet. I enjoyed it, but not as satisfied as I would have liked to have been.
While reading I felt a push to keep reading! I wanted to find out what was going to happen, but by the end I'm not sure I felt satisfied. They was also A LOT of PG 13 language that wasn't making me love it. But I felt I learned a lot about the life of obese people and what they have to deal with. I go away a better person with that knowledge so that I can have more compassion.
The love triangle was entertaining.
So would I recommend this? No? I'm not sure. It's definitely geared for a high school audience, and I could see them liking this a lot. But I'm not sure the final taste in my mouth was sweet. I enjoyed it, but not as satisfied as I would have liked to have been.
October 17, 2019
I don't know what I think about this book. On the one hand, it's an important thing to have books like this and I recognise that and appreciate the author writing it. On the other hand, there's and the main character being horrible to her friends. (She does recognise and apologise for this. Eventually.) I don't know! Another part of me feels like I don't have the right to say anything about this book because I'm coming from a place of skinny privilege. But so many of the characters in this were just genuinely unlikeable? I'm not sure if that was like, #praxis or what, but if you've read this/want to read it please let me know what you thought.
October 2, 2020
The first time I read this book, I remember loving it. This time around, even though I did still like it, I felt self-conscious. It made me remember being bullied as I grew up because, once I hit puberty, I got fat. Not to the extent of 3x and 4x, but I still wasn't as thin and pretty as other girls. And I got picked on for it. I was made fun of when the other girls found out I had a crush on someone, I was bullied by other girls. I was bullied by guys. It wasn't a fun time. Maybe if I had the confidence that Jamie started out with things would have been different. I don't know, my relationship with this book is complicated. I'm glad I read it again, but I don't think I'll read it again.
December 23, 2021
I was expecting more from this book. Jamie, the main character, isn’t as likable as I think the author intended to be. She is fighting for a cause she is not sure she believes in. She is rarely a good friend. Also, it feels as though the author added diversity for the sake of adding it. Some of it felt out of place and performative. I love body positivity and did find some aspects of this book very relatable, but overall I expected more.
November 7, 2018
LOVED IT - where the hell was this book when I was in high school? A fat character who both embraces her fatness but deals with shame that ultimately everyone deals with. And she has boyfriends and is the lead in musicals and can write and made me think about body positivity, although it’s very ya- not much drama, but so much there about fatness and health.
April 11, 2019
I found this very typical of a YA novel. Some of the points were predictable, but it did have a fresh spin with the main character being a fat girl. The humor and Jamie's column are two of the things that really make this novel shine. I also love how real statistics and facts are woven into the story.
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