Baker, Ken How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love, 269 p. Running Press, 2014. $10. Language: PG-13 (45 swears, 1 ‘f’); Violence: G; Mature Content: R (self-pleasuring, body parts, off-page sex).
Emery Jackson is fat. Her mother and sister starve themselves in order to be supermodel thin and heap scorn and ridicule on Emery in order to shame her into losing weight. Emery’s father is cold and focused on anything but his family. But Emery’s family needs a lot of money – their life-style is expensive and without a large cash infusion, they are going down. But a Hollywood producer has a deal for them. If Emery agrees to be the center of a reality show where she submits to losing 50 pounds in 50 days and loses the weight, then her family will get a million dollars. Emery may agree to the show, but she will not be anyone’s puppet. She is happy say anything that comes to mind and will fight for what she wants – while trying to save her family. But every family member has secrets – some of them personally devastating for Emery. Is her sanity, her dignity, worth the humiliation of a reality show?
I don’t know what it is about Ken Baker, but he writes just like a teenaged girl. His voice is authentic. Plus, he gives a sharp inside look at consumerism and life inside the Hollywood reality fish bowl from his work on E! This book will make most people who read it uncomfortable (including me), because Emery does not pull her punches; the subject matter that she covers is frank and varied (read the content ratings again). I was not very satisfied with the ending, because it did seem a little contrived.
HS – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
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1 comment:
I also really liked this and thought it was well done, but it was certainly a book more for high school than middle school students.
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