Katie Cullen Reads

Jamie Carcaterra is a fat girl.

Fat.  Girl.  Okay, get it?

She’s heard all the jokes.  She knows all the prejudices.

She has a Fat Boy boyfriend and a Big Fat Attitude.  And she’s happy.  And she’s willing to spread that in her controversial newspaper column.

She’s pretty happy stirring up some Big Fat Trouble, particularly in a hilarious scene when she and her (normal-ish) friend Freddie and (super-ultra-vegan) friend NoNo go into a meant-for-0-sized-girls store called Hotchix.

But then some Big Fat Problems arise– her Fat Boy boyfriend, Burke, suddenly decides that he’s going to get bariatric surgery.  What’s bariatric surgery? you may ask.  Oh, nothing but having your STOMACH stapled to your INTESTINES.  Naturally, Jamie is distraught.  And what girl wouldn’t be?  He’s saying he’s too fat, imagine the consequences on a poor overworked confused Fat Girl.  AKA, Jamie.

And when things go horribly wrong both with Burke and some, shall we say, out of context media reporting, Jamie is left drowning in a mix of pain for Burke, work for the school musical, and… new feelings for her editor, Heath.

Big Fat Manifesto was hilarious!  There were so many great lines in Jamie’s articles that had me cracking up and snorting soda out my nose (not really).  Lines like “Tell me, what in the name of all that’s creamy and chocolate do skinny guys know about being a fat girl?” were just so… accurate.

Any girl, and I mean any girl, who has ever felt bad about her looks will relish in knowing that Jamie is just like them.  Just a size 4x shirt is all that differentiates her from every other teen girl struggling to find her place.

5/5 stars.

What do you mean, floating in midair?

Ah… good times.  I first read this when I was about eight and a half and have been reading the books ever since.  I swear to god I wanted to BE Nita.  And actually, I think I’m more like her than any other character.  I’m nowhere near as smart as Dairine, anyway.  Plus, her name sounds like Dairy.  Um, okay.

This one impacted me the most, though:

Nita Callahan and the Glow-y Orb

…Dude, it was like MADE of AWESOME.  Because she did this whole awesome fraternizing-with-the-enemy bit, not to mention Kit’s dog made worlds out of thin air with squirrels in ’em.

So, anyone else liked this series?  Leave me a comment and we can chatter about it.

A tasty treat for sharks readers.

 Absolute Brightness by James Lescene

 The Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer

 Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley

 Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

For thriller lovers… pick up Death Note.  Not only does it have the totally adorable L-kun, but it also has enough intrigue, mystery, and thrills for the wanna-be detective in you.

For humorous peeps… Why not try Azumanga Daioh?  It’s a cute little slice-of-life comic strip with adorable-but-not-overly-cute chibi-ish characters and, best of all, nekoconeco!

For those with a short attention span… The yearly Rising Stars of Manga competition is collected in book form, and made of awesome.  New awesome manga-kas (for the uninformed: peoples who make manga like their lives depend on it and consume mucho Pocky) like M. Alice LeGrow and… shoot, that’s all I can think of right now.  DAMN SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS.

For incurable romantics: You’re looking for a dose of Sorcerers and Secretaries.  It’s only two volumes long, incredibly sweet, and Nicole really reminds me of my friend Julia.

In my opinion, their is no greater insult than to have people leave notes in your locker that misspell the words that are meant to hurt you.

You just want to say, “Puh-lease, b****, if you’re going to talk trash about me, talk the right trash!”

Cassie O’Sullivan, the intelligent and thoughtful narrator of Brian Mandabach’s debut Or Not? wouldn’t say “trash” though.  Maybe “refuse” or “garbage,” but not “trash”.  Because she is soooo much smarter than that.

The trouble for Cassie starts when she defends evolution in a class discussion (anyone having flashbacks to Evolution, Me, and other Freaks of Nature…?) and only intensifies when she refuses to sing “I’m proud to be an american, where at least I know I’m free” in chorus.  Notes are dropped into her locker.  Accusations are scrawled on bathroom walls.

The only lights in the darkness of 8th grade are Cassie’s brother’s girlfriend, Ally (an unshaven hippie who is pretty much MADE OF AWESOME as far as this reviewer is concerned) and her new friends, members of either the Writing or Tolkein clubs, specifically DJ, whose mom keeps him like a littleyappydog on a leash and actually asks for a lock of Cassie’s “midnight tresses.”

So, the big questions: can Cassie deal with:

a) a failed test of yesteryear which she purposefully screwed up, misspelling “sliep wocker but nailing somnabulist”?

b) her new… shall we say, shorn look?

c) Teachers that think she’s suicidal?

d) and much, much more?

Tune into the record-covered Or Not today for more from your local Cassie.

4.5/5 Stars.
Because Cassie kept misspelling Kurt Cobain.  (She put a D in it.  WTF?)

…I wonder where all the new books at the library is?

Holly’s response: “We’ll probably get like 100 when they actually start coming.”

My response to that: *feels like strangling something*

My second response to that: “I’m going to have to rob a bank to afford all those new books then!”

*sigh* Such is life for a broke teenager…

This has absolutely nothing to do with books, but Dad and I rented a load of movies for Spring Break and I stayed up last night watching What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (y’all know, the one with Johnny Depp before he got old?) and did anyone else notice how disproportionate Arnie’s hands were to his body?

They were like those big-ass blow up rubber gloves.

And thank you for listening to my rant of insanity um, blog entry.

😀

This brilliant fanfic my friend sent me about LotR therapy sessions…

Stand Out Lines

“Hello, I am Aragorn son of Arathorn and I have commitment issues.”

“I am Haldir, captain of the guards of Lothlorien and I am better than anyone else in the world.”

“Where are you going? Do not think this is over! You owe me a new bottle of bleach…its the only way I can change this stupid multi-colored cloak and become white again!”

“Sure! The Lady of the Light was such a babe…”

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3019667/1/A_Lord_of_the_Rings_Therapy_Session

This is from the amazingly random stargazer100.wordpress.com!

The questions rhyme… 

What’s your favorite nursery rhyme?
I don’t even LIKE nursery rhymes.
They’re creeeeeeepy.

First chapter book you read.
Hahahaha.  It was called Dear Lizzie or something and it was about this girl who wrote letters…

Do you read best in the day time?
Yeah, because I’m too tired at night.

Or when you are in bed?
Well, it is comfortable there.

A funny or serious tone?
I like both, but right now, I’m in a serious mood.
Llama.
Okay, not that serious.

A favorite character who is a guy.
I’ll pick a LOT of them.
Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Edward Cullen
Jacob Black
and that one guy from Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith who got turned into a tree because hello, trees = awesome.

Some books you want to own.
Breaking Dawn
New Moon
Eclipse
Firebirds Rising
and many, many others.

And the first book that made you cry.
The Merlin Effect by T.A. Barron.
Dude, they killed off a main character.
Underwater.
How is that not depressing?

I TAG THE WORLD! *lasers shoot from eyes*