Fat Kid Rules the World
I thought I was going to hate this book, but it has turned out to be one of my favorite books I’ve read this summer. Consider yourself forewarned as there is mature language and a character with drug addiction. So, if such topics turn you off, beware.
Troy Billings, an obese teen, describes himself in such offensive ways that I wanted to give up on the book. He describes how people detest fat people because they have no self control. His self confidence has plummeted to negative numbers and as he considers suicide, Curt McCrae rocks into his life. Curt McRae, skinny, filthy, drug addicted, instills in Troy a new way of looking at life. He tells Troy, “Anyone can play a beat . . . but the great drummers listen to the sounds around them, then add their own part in the conversation. They influence it” (129). Troy’s confidence grows ever so slowly teasing the reader to the very end.
I’ve said before that I love books with great lines. K.L. Going does some great stuff with Troy’s character. Troy who thinks of himself only as a fat kid going nowhere is delightfully complicated as he headlines himself throughout the novel with mantras such as Fat Kid Messes Up, Fat Kid Makes an Effort, Fat Kid Gets Hysterical.
Nearly every kid who reads this, overweight or not, should be able to relate easily to Troy. We’ve all been overly self-conscious at one point or another. We think the whole world is staring at us and laughing at our mistakes when truly no one really pays that much attention to others. As Troy waits to go onstage for his first gig with Curt, he says, “I can’t remember how I ever allowed myself to get to this point” (130). I’ve wondered that so many times myself when something seemed like such a great idea at one point, but then suddenly I had second thoughts and wondered how I ever got there: my first day of teaching, riding in a horse show as an adult, presenting at a conference, standing on a high dive. How do I get myself into those messes? And, when I finally take the plunge, I rule the world
Give this book a try. It’s quite different from everything else I’ve recommended. It’s raw. It’s crass. But, it’s real. I’ve give this one a 9.5
Troy Billings, an obese teen, describes himself in such offensive ways that I wanted to give up on the book. He describes how people detest fat people because they have no self control. His self confidence has plummeted to negative numbers and as he considers suicide, Curt McCrae rocks into his life. Curt McRae, skinny, filthy, drug addicted, instills in Troy a new way of looking at life. He tells Troy, “Anyone can play a beat . . . but the great drummers listen to the sounds around them, then add their own part in the conversation. They influence it” (129). Troy’s confidence grows ever so slowly teasing the reader to the very end.
I’ve said before that I love books with great lines. K.L. Going does some great stuff with Troy’s character. Troy who thinks of himself only as a fat kid going nowhere is delightfully complicated as he headlines himself throughout the novel with mantras such as Fat Kid Messes Up, Fat Kid Makes an Effort, Fat Kid Gets Hysterical.
Nearly every kid who reads this, overweight or not, should be able to relate easily to Troy. We’ve all been overly self-conscious at one point or another. We think the whole world is staring at us and laughing at our mistakes when truly no one really pays that much attention to others. As Troy waits to go onstage for his first gig with Curt, he says, “I can’t remember how I ever allowed myself to get to this point” (130). I’ve wondered that so many times myself when something seemed like such a great idea at one point, but then suddenly I had second thoughts and wondered how I ever got there: my first day of teaching, riding in a horse show as an adult, presenting at a conference, standing on a high dive. How do I get myself into those messes? And, when I finally take the plunge, I rule the world
Give this book a try. It’s quite different from everything else I’ve recommended. It’s raw. It’s crass. But, it’s real. I’ve give this one a 9.5
OMG - just realized that K.L. Going also wrote The Liberation of Gabrielle King which is a phenomenal book. I read it last summer because it's on the SC Junior Book Award List for 2007. It's beautifully written and quite a departure from Fat Kid. Many of the 7th graders in my class this past year chose it to read and thoroughly enjoyed it. If I remember correctly, there was an incredible spider scene.
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