Review #4 -Skinny

Title: Skinny
Author: Donna Cooner
Pages: 272
Pub Date: October 2012
Publisher: Scholastic

Source: I received an ARC of the book when I attend Book Expo America back in May 2012. Thanks to Scholastic USA for providing this for me to review.

About The Book:
A remarkable new voice in YA fiction. And a powerful topic that is both timely—and timeless.

Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies’s head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds, knows she’ll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it.

But there is another voice: Ever’s singing voice, which is beautiful but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical—and partly to try and save her own life—Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over.

With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own.

Donna Cooner brings warmth, wit, and startling insight to this unforgettable debut.

When I went to BEA last year this was one of the books that I really wanted to get and read. I was so happy when the rep from Scholastic USA offered it to me. Thanks Scholastic for giving it to me.

I actually finished up the book earlier in the week but am only finally sitting down to right it now because the book was that good and I want it to really sink in plus I was having a hard time putting my thoughts into words.

When I started the book I was instantly hooked and managed to read at a steady pace so that I wouldn’t rush through it because I think this is a book you really need to savor and take your time with. I honestly think taking my time made me enjoy it a little more.

I think one of the things I really liked about the book was how real it felt. We all know that kids are being bullied in school and being judged all the time on the way they look etc. I honestly have to say my heart went out to Ever at times as it does for all kinds who are victims of a bully.

Right from the beginning you can tell its loosely based on the fairy tale Cinderella because the main character Ever has lost her mother (like Cinderella) and her father has remarried but her step mother is nothing like the evil step mother (she is skinny and beautiful) and I think you will grow to love the step sisters especially Briella who are also skinny and beautiful).

Ever is the main character and she is a fifteen year old girl who weighs over 300 pounds. She has a little voice in her head (Skinny) that is always there to bring Ever down. Telling her she is fat, that no one will ever love her, that she is ugly etc.

Ever doesn’t have many friends (and this is due to Skinny) but she does have one best friend called Rat ( I would have loved to know where this nick name came from) and he is always there for her. I wish the author would have touched more on their relationship because I felt like Rat could have told us so much.

Ever has tried all kinds of diets and has never successfully lost that much weight. When an unfortunate embarrassing event (my heart actually broke for Ever at this point) happens at school during a presentation that has left Ever totally embarrassed she decides its time to get the gastric bypass surgery.

This has been something that Ever has been researching and thinking about for awhile. I honestly could see how and why Ever wanted to go with this. She thought it would be a quick and easy solution to her problem. She just wants to be a normal teen age girl having fun in school, being accepted and having a boyfriend, who just happens to be her old time friend (Jackson). After the surgery Ever realizes that this isn’t going to be an easy journey and that she really has to work to loose the weight but thanks to Rat he is there encouraging her.

Things are going good for Ever she is loosing the weight, making friends, gets to show everyone she can sing and gets a boyfriend but its not who you think it is. Will she nab her old time friend or is it someone who has always been there for her in good times and bad?

I really enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to future books by Donna Cooner.