Body Image

more reading suggestions

FICTION:

Alt Ed by Catherine Atkins

(YA Fiction Atkins)
Susan Callaway is a painfully self-conscious sophomore at Wayne High. Constantly teased about her weight, she has no friends. Her longtime nemesis, Kale Krasner, is a slow-witted bully whom she suspects is behind the harassing phone calls she's been getting. When she meets openly gay Brendan Slater in the school library, she makes friends with this fellow outcast, and together they surreptitiously deface Kale's pickup truck. This act of vandalism lands them both in a new 12-week, after-school group led by the head guidance counselor and designed as an alternative to expulsion for six students with serious infractions.

Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You by Dorian Cirrone

(YA Fiction Cirrone)
Three double-D-cup bras keep 16-year-old Kayla's "cantaloupe boobs" under control during ballet class, but when her breasts prevent her from nailing a part she deserves, her instructor advises plastic surgery. As Kayla contemplates her options, the whole student body at her arts high school weighs in on the "Whack the Rack" versus "Save the Hooters" dilemma. The drama escalates when blood-red toe shoes start appearing around school with the scary tagline, "Dancing in red shoes will kill you," an allusion to the disturbing Red Shoes folktale, which fuels an energetic discussion of gender issues and the feminine ideal.

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

(YA Fiction Dessen)
Fifteen-year-old Colie is spending the summer with her eccentric Aunt Mira while her mother travels. Formerly chubby and still insecure, Colie has built a shell around herself. But her summer with her aunt, her aunt's tenant Norman, and her friends at the Last Chance Diner teaches her some important lessons about friendship and learning to love yourself.

Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

(YA Fiction Going, audio book available on CD)
Troy Billings at 6'1", 296 pounds, is standing at the edge of a subway platform seriously contemplating suicide when he meets Curt MacCrae -a sage-like, semi-homeless punk guitar genius who also happens to be a drop-out legend at Troy's school on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. With Curt, Troy gets more than he bargained for and soon finds himself recruited as Curt's drummer. "We'll be called Rage/Tectonic. Sort of a punk rock, Clash sort of thing," Curt informs him. There's only one problem. Troy can't play the drums. Oh yes, and his father thinks Curt's a drug addict. And his brother thinks Troy's a loser. But with Curt, anything is possible.

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

(YA Fiction)
Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.