Big Guy

by Robin Stevenson

Derek thinks he might be falling in love. The problem is, he hasn't been entirely honest with his online boyfriend. Derek sent Ethan a photo taken before he got depressed and gained eighty pounds. Derek hasn't been honest with his employer either. When he lied about his age and experience to get a job with disabled adults, the last thing he expected was to meet a woman like Aaliyah. Smart, prickly and often difficult, Aaliyah challenges Derek's ideas about honesty and trust. Derek has to choose whether to risk telling the truth or to give up the most important relationship in his life.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, LGBT, Gay, Canada, Ebooks, Realistic Fiction

106 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Robin Stevenson is the award winning author of over thirty books of fiction and non-fiction for kids and teens. Her books have received starred reviews and have won the Silver Birch Award, the Sheila A. Egoff award and a Stonewall Honor, and been finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, and many reader’s choice awards. Robin was the Book and Periodical Council of Canada’s Champion of Free Expression for 2022, and received the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence in 2023. She lives on the west coast of Canada.

Reviews

[Lily H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute little easy read. Much more than I thought it was gonna be. It’s only a three star cause it was so short but I rlly enjoyed it.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Derek is seventeen. He has dropped out of school and is working in a nursing home. He lives alone with his less-than-supportive father who looks down on everything in Derek's life. Derek can't even imagine what his father would do if he knew the truth - Derek is gay.

Recently, Derek has been exchanging emails with Ethan. They have established a real friendship over the Internet. In fact, the friendship has blossomed into much more, at least for Derek. There's a problem, though. Derek sent Ethan a picture that doesn't really resemble the Derek of today. It was taken some time ago before Derek's mother left to join a cult. He has put on some extra weight since the picture was taken, and now Ethan has just broken the news that he wants to meet in person.

Should he tell the truth or break things off?

This sounds like a fairly shallow storyline, but much more is revealed about Derek's struggle to accept his unforgiving father, his absent mother, and himself. BIG GUY is a fast read that should appeal to any reader looking for a story of self-acceptance and the determination to carry on.

[S.M. Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robin Stevenson – Big Guy (Review)

Finished: 09/04/2014

4 Twinkling Stars.


Apart from the problems I had with my copy, the book was alright.

Even though in some places it seemed as if either the writing or the characters were stilted, there was just something about it that clicked with me. I had a couple of teary eyed moments, a couple of pissed moments at Derek A.K.A Big Guy for his constant put-downs about himself but thinking back on my teenage years, I spent time doing the same, much like everyone else did and a couple of smiley moments.

Yeah, there was no sex or anything of that nature but I really wasn’t bothered by that. I think inserting something like that, would have spoiled it.

Good book and will be looking out for more of Robin Stevenson’s books.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read.

[Daniellesof2014 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derek is a 17 year old boy. He is different than the others though because he's... he's gay. He drops out of school and, lied about his age to get into a job. Which actually worked wonders, but not only that he met a guy named Ethan online which pretty much made his day. Every day he would talk to him and went to work to meet a woman. Her name was Aaliyah, and she tells him the truth about anything because they actually have a lot in common. When Derek sends a picture of himself he realizes that it was a mistake when he finds out that Ethan is coming for a visit and they are going to meet in person. Derek had sent a picture of himself when he was 80 pounds less then what his was today, and he sisn’t like the toady him. He didn't know what to do, finish it with Ethan or keep lying until he got there. What should he do?

This book reminds me of mall cop. Paul Blart had signed up for a dating service online. And nobody matched him all the computer said was that there were no matches. This reminds me of this book because of the way Derek had met Ethan in the book.

I give this book 4 stars because even though this isn't my kind of book it was very good. I thought it was very dramatic, with a lot of feeling. It was also very interesting. But it would have been better if there were a lot more action, Adventure.

[Shawn Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orca Soundings are high interest, low vocab, and so sometimes the story feels a little bare. This one, while without extraneous fluff, had clear voice, an engaging story, and felt like a satisfying read. I liked the matter-of-fact tone, the nicely crafted characters , and the authentic portrayal of the youth. Recommended!

BTW I am baffled by some of the reviews, which almost sound like they read a different book. Yes, Derek is gay, but that is not particularly relevant to the story. The conflict is that he is not comfortable in his skin, so he sends a skinny picture to his online crush, and then doesn't know what to do when the online crush is going to come visit. Being gay is a layer of his characterization, but he's just a person in love who makes a decision that leads to some consequences that he has to sort out! His best friend since babyhood essentially, is a lesbian, and so they have never had, nor ever will have a romantic relationship. They are friends. His dad is a jerk; he was a jerk before he discovered his son is gay, and he was a jerk afterwards. That is just a level of complication. The theme is about being honest with yourself and trusting that people will love you for who you are.

[Tyree]

This book Big Guy is about a boy who is confused about which gender he should date. He is confused because he is having many conversations with a boy online and he is dating that boy from online. And theirs this girl who he dated before and he cant stopm thinking about her. And he thinks that he should date her because it feels right.
This boy's internal conflict is, should he date the boy online because it make Derek(the boy) feel special, or date the girl because it feels right. He didnt decide throughout this story because he doesnt have anymore conversations with derek nomore, and the girl e likes ignores him.
I recommend this book to people who have had an internal conflict that reflected on gender issues because throughout this book derek learned that no matter what gender you like, you are just like any other person out there.
I give this book a 5 because, first I liked this book a lot because even though Derek is gay, people in the book dont make fun of him like the real world would. And that was very respectful.

[Dilan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big Guy is about a boy who's mother left and has to live with his dad. The guy is a high school dropout because his mom left and he was sad. The guy happens to be gay but his father wouldn't allow that so he never told his father that he was gay. The guy had been in an online relationship but the guy didn't want to meet with him for personal reasons.

I can make a text to self connection. My text to self connection is that a family member of mine left. Instead of my mother leaving it was my father who left. It was not easy growing up without a father i had some hard times in life but its all good now. Everything is alright now because i've grew up without a father for 8 years.

I gave this book 4 stars because i thought it was a very good book. It wasn't amazing but it was really good. I liked it because to me it was interesting i wanted to see what happened next. I wanted to know what his father was gonna do when he found out the he was gay.

[Kareem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big guy is about a boy who is having trouble with life when his mother left a year ago, and he is hiding a secret from his dad he is gay, and he is dating a man over the internet and the guys name is ethan.

I can connect this book to world war 2 because the jews were trying to keep a big secret from the nazis and if the nazis found out what they were doing then the jews would be kill on the spot.

I give this book 5 stars because it was dramatic and it was like a real live story, if you want to read this book then it would get you on the edge of your sit in the first 5 minutes of the book and you will not be able to stop read unless someone pried it out of you hand and hid the book.

[Xiao Wen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two main themes in this book. The most obvious one is about the discrimination of homosexuals. This theme relates to the traditional stereotypes, because most of the traditional people can not accept homosexuals. In the book, even though the father does not know his son is homosexual exactly, but he clearly told his son that he can not accept it. Another theme in the book is people usually do not want realism in their lives when they already get used to the unrealistic one, or maybe they are just not brave enough to. In the book, Derek does not want to meet Ethan in real life because he gets used to have the relationship with Ethan through internet, and because of his father's traditional stereotypical opinion on it.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Derek is not like the other boys in school. He is gay. Derek is dating Ethan online. Derek sent Ethan a picture of him a few years ago, but he has gained a little weight. Derek's father is homophobic (he doesn't accept or like homosexuals)
I can make a text to movie connection, in Prayers for Bobby, Bobby is also about 17+ boy. He is gay. His mother was raised up in a household where being a homosexual or gay is a sin. If you watch the movie, you will see what happens to Bobby, it is life changing.
i gave this book 5 stars. It leaves you hanging at the end waiting for more. I Like this series, but I think they are too easy for me.

[Jaime Arredondo]

I honestly think this book was pretty good. Considering it was kinda like a love story book. It had a great plot. Derek spends a lot of time on the internet, he meets a special guy and he ask derek to send a picture of himself to see what he looks like. Derek sent him a picture of him when he was a lot skinner. Now they're wanting to meet and derek is afraid on how to explain his lie. He's been living more lies as well, he lies about his experience to get the job working with the elderly, He meets this lady that helps him resolve his problems. To find out how derek manages all this read the book
Big Guy.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend the book "Big Guy". This book talks about Derek and how he dropped out of high school and he got a new job working with elders. He feels like his life is becoming a complete disaster after he sends Ethan a picture of himself from one year ago when he was skinny. Then later on Ethan tells him his sister is getting married and he wants to stop by and visit him. At this point Derek feels like he has done the biggest mistake of his life sending Ethan a picture of what he looked like last year and not now that he had gained more pounds. He just doesn't feel the same and tries to end the relationship with Ethan.

[Ryan Byfield]

This book is about a young girl and her dad he did not like the way she behave like wearing her shoes in the house and comming in the late Houres she got in a argument with her dad and chose to go live with her best friend.the main character is Ethan,Francine and Gabi the Story is all about a young girl keeping secrets from her dad. MY opinion of the book is that is that the book is a Very interested book to read because it tells me how kids are are very disobedient to their parents. yes i like reading this book because it is a very interested book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. I even recommended it to my friend who hardly ever reads, and he loved it as well. Practically an orphan, as his father takes no care of him and his mother is gone, Derek gets in several emotion-provoking situations that change his self-esteem/confidence through out this book. I say it's worth reading because it's a very quick read and if you like it great, if you don't that's not much time wasted.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derek is in an online relationship with Ethan, but when Ethan wants a picture Derek sends an old one - - when he was 80 pounds lighter. Now, with the possibility of meeting Ethan in person, Derek wants to break up instead of admitting he’s gained weight. This short novel is part of the Orca Soundings series, low level, high interest titles for High School students. A few crude sexual references but nothing explicit. Appropriate for the right high school student.

[Jonathan]

I personally wouldn't recommend this book because even tho it does try to show some of the issues and problems certain people face today. In reality it touched more of emotional issues and was vary passive as it went on even when the climax of the problem came on. with this said if you like to read about relationship problems and them people helping each other with there issues i think this would be the book for you.

[Asuka · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the Orca Soundings (i.e. a short book for reluctant readers). It's about an overweight gay youth and his struggle with accepting his issues. I thought it was really sweet and cute. Though it's very short, it's plenty to really love him. Highly recommended for a nice quick read.

[Sue Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compact story for the more reluctant reader. A solid story about social issues many teens face, dysfunctional family, self esteem and sexuality. The format is suited to dyslexic reader with mat off white paper and well spaced text.

[Brad · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this was the worst book ive ever read it was pointless and it has the worst ending i just didnt like it that much but you might.

[Ya Pre-ged · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book talks about a girl name Danni witch in the main character of this story. A she is living with her mothers

[Bob]

AMAZINg!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems a little like a shell of a very good idea for a book but way too short for any meaningful character or plot developments.

[Kenneth taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book is terrible i mean just awful

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

in my opinion this is the most boring book ive read this month because i didnt feel the conection between the characters

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good hi-lo YA novel with a current theme. Stevenson does the story justice without being overly wordy, and treats the boy-boy love interest with a deft hand.

[Destiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THE BOOK SO MUCH

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again

[Mina Burnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

its a really good book!!

[Amy Mathers · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://amysmarathonofbooks.ca/big-guy/