Manstealing for Fat Girls

I read it until I passed out and then woke up a few hours later wanting to do nothing but finish it. It spoke so much to body image issues all young women face, and to the difficulties of teenage sexuality. I have it on good authority that this book wasn't written for young adults, but was marketed that way because it's about young adults. I say, forget the label. Its visceral critique of gender relations and class issues are more than adult enough for any non-teenage reader. It has its flaws, but it'll punch you in the gut. I recommend it highly.

In a time of sugary sweet coming of age stories like Juno and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, it was a wonder to read something so simultaneously harsh and heart felt as MSFFG. I am an objective reader, and I couldn't put this book down for one second. literally read it cover to cover in one sitting. The setting of 80s suburban wasteland, the infusion of grime-core punk music and the undercutting of the John hughes genre makes this a teenage adventure I can actually relate to my own life. And it is so funny. A wonderful book I would recommend to any and every one.

As this book's editor, I'm hardly objective. That said, I'm also a reader and my opinion of the review below is that MsFrisby missed the point. Manstealing for Fat Girls has sex, drinking and drugs in it. So do most kids lives these days. Whether they do or don't engage in any of the above, they know kids who do. The book shows how a real, literary heroine navigates these dangers as well as unnamable ones--patriarchy, homophobia and a class system that also negates her worth as a human being. The "lessons" for young readers--and there are many--involve watching a young woman figure out that she's ultimately stronger than all of the above. Also that she will continue to have to fight these battles her whole life. That is the reality MsFrisby and those who visit her library also deal with, and naming these things, through literature, ultimately makes all of us stronger (and saner). I've spoken to countless librarians about this book who are jumping up and down excited about it because its books like these that make kids want to read. MsFisby, I agree with you that the examples above are disturbing (though some are a bit misquoted). That's why the author put them in the book. That's the function of literature: to show a mirror to the world and then to show us the alteratives. As for my take on this book, I adore it. Its smart and political, but mostly its really, really funny.