Body-Inclusive (Intermediate)

(2) YA Seventh-grader Ari Rosensweig is the new kid, "awkward, big, different / from everyone else." Picked on and beat up, Ari is drawn to other worlds where characters transform heroically (e.g., Avatar). The verse novel is a well-chosen format for Baron's debut, with his first-person narrative effectively revealing the protagonist"s growth step by step. Any reader who has felt like an outsider will be drawn to this verse novel.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(2) 4-6 Since she was five, Ellie (now eleven) has lived by a list of Fat Girl Rules: "Make yourself small"; "Move slowly so / your fat doesn't jiggle"; "When you hear laughter, / someone's laughing at you." She only feels comfortable in her body when she's swimming or spending time with her dog or her similarly fat best friend, Viv. But when Viv moves away, Ellie is alone in facing the sixth-grade bullies, who call her a whale, slam doors in her face, and--horrifyingly--loosen the screws on her desk so it collapses. It's not much better outside of school, where strangers make rude comments, or at home, where her mother posts dieting articles on the fridge and even takes her to see a bariatric surgeon without her consent. (If it all seems too cruel to be realistic, an author's note explains that these experiences are based on Fipps's own.) Luckily, Ellie has the support of her dad, a new friend, and an understanding therapist who teaches her to stand up for herself. Ellie's simple and powerful free-verse poems intensify her emotional turmoil and smoothly destroy stereotypes ("They think I'm unhappy / because I'm fat. / The truth is, / I'm unhappy because / they bully me / about being fat"). Her strength in accepting herself and learning to defy her Fat Girl Rules is an inspiring reminder to all readers that they deserve to "take up space."

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

(2) 4-6 Garvey is an overweight boy tormented by name-calling at school: "lard butt, fatso, Mister Tubs." His life changes when his best friend suggests he join the school chorus. Employing the Japanese poetic form of tanka, Grimes reveals Garvey's thoughts, feelings, and observations; the spare poetry is a good vehicle for a young man's attempts to articulate the puzzle that is his life.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(3) 4-6 Living with her dad and mom near Seattle, sixth grader Annabelle finds her ho-hum life becomes a lot more interesting with the arrival of nonbinary new student Bailey, whose pronouns are they/them. Already quietly questioning her own sexual orientation, Annabelle is drawn to Bailey like a magnet, but Annabelle's father is surprisingly unwelcoming. His bombshell explanation: he's actually a transman and Annabelle's gestational parent, who, unlike Bailey, had to keep his identity secret to avoid discrimination. Although the dialogue is more earnest than realistic, this exploration of gender issues will engage readers with its satisfying progression as the sixth graders fight a bigoted mother in the classroom and take steps to join the wider LGBTQ+ community.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) 4-6 While her advice-columnist neighbor is away, thirteen-year-old Sweet Pea is charged with forwarding her correspondence. A letter from a former best friend prompts Sweet Pea to take the column into her own hands. Murphy's first novel for slightly younger readers is full of funny seventh-grade moments; narrator Sweet Pea also offers more serious reflection about the people in her small Texas town--a cast diverse in ethnicity, sexual orientation, and body size as well as in attitudes.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019