My Big Nose & Other Natural Disasters

This is a great book! Jory isn't 100% good girl, but she isn't a bad girl, either. She's just trying to grow up and find her place in the world, and she's making mistakes along the way. She does some things that her parents aren't happy with, but she's smart enough to learn from her experiences, and hanging out with her for a while is a fun time. I don't think that her obsession with her "Super Schnozz" and her fear of "dying a virgin" mean that she's shallow or a slut. They shouldn't be taken completely literally; they are representative of those fears that almost everyone has at some point--fears of not fitting in or belonging, fears of being the only one who will end up alone. Salter's story is about Jory learning what's going to be important to her as she becomes an adult; that Salter tells this story without being preachy or cloying is quite a feat. And the "romance" of the novel is quite a sweet story. Just what it should be.

My Big Nose and other natural disasters by Sydney Salter (Young Adult) Jory Michaels is entering summer vacation this year with plans. Really big plans! She plans on getting a job to save money, finding a boyfriend, possibly loosing her virginity and getting her "Super Schnozz " as she like to call it 'fixed'. So she gets a job delivering cakes and flowers. So not the best ideas she has ever had. On her very first day she needs to have someone else show her how to drive a stick shift! This book deals with many problems a lot of teens may experience, in a funny and fairly realistic way. Some of these issues include, self-image problems, homo-sexuality, loosing ones virginity just to name a few. For Jory, and probably for most teen girls it was a little more complicated since she was also basing her self image on her mother who was constantly dieting (I'm laughing at some of the very unusual diets this poor woman tried...the Cabbage soup diet?) and very unhappy with her own looks, which makes a big impact on her daughter. I recommend this book very highly for any young girl over 15 and I really recommend this as reading for any mother of a young teen girl, as this can serve as an excellent cautionary tale about what you are teaching your daughters when you strive for perfection at any cost.

This novel about Jory Michaels, her last summer in high school, and her relationships- both with the people around her, and with her nose- is one of the most charming contemporary YA novels I've ever read. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments that I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite, but Sydney Salter has a gift for wry humor that elevates this body novel from simply amusing to downright witty. And she has a gift for pulling the reader right into Jory's vivid world. As a reader I was engulfed in Jory's travails as she works a summer job to try to earn the money for a nose job, and perhaps even manage to lose her virginity. Along the way, she fights with friends, makes up with friends, saves a friend, destroys a van, meets some boys, and makes her own kind of peace with herself. I don't normally choose light or contemporary when choosing books for myself, but this smart, breezy novel is a delicious exception.

Oh my gosh did I have a good time reading this book! I couldn't get to the end fast enough! I think my favorite thing about this book was how many layers it had, for example not one potential love interest, or even two, but three! I mean yeah, I definitely knew who she would end up with but I liked having those few extra challenges for Jory to face! I like how the book mixed a fun summer, romance, learning about yourself, and body/self-esteem issues. It takes A LOT on and I think it does a pretty good job of balancing it all. I love how we get to see Jory evolve over one summer and all the challenges she has to face. In particular I was really interested in reading about what could be considered a friendship betrayal, you'll have to read the book to see what I mean. I also loved seeing her accept others and realize it was ok to accept herself. This book was just great! My only gripe with the book was that Jory made fun of herself, and particularly her nose a few too many times. Yes, I know that's part of the title etc but it just got to be a bit too much at times. Overall a layered, humorous yet thoughtful look at finding yourself and being happy with what you see. I'd definitely recommend it!

This was a pretty good book. After iI read it I let my grandaughter read it and she agreed there were a few over the top things but all in all it was a good story line. My grandaughter is 15 and she could see herself in allot of the things.