Marcy Lewis is thirteen, thinks she looks like a blimp, and has no friends. Misunderstood, overweight, and convinced that she’ll never get a date, Marcy Lewis wants nothing more than to be “normal.” Until she meets Ms. Finney, an outspoken English teacher with an eccentric teaching method that rubs the principal the wrong way. Ms. Finney’s dismissal from the school propels Marcy to defend Ms. Finney, and provides a way for Marcy to reexamine what’s important to her and to stand up for what she believes in.
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit is really one of those classic reads.
I don’t understand why there aren’t more good books for children today than there have been in the past decades. There are a lot of titles for kids today, and some of them are really good, outstanding even, but the rest seem to be moneymaking schemes by publishers who produce books that are more flash than substance.
Some are downright crappy (Chasing Vermeer), or skanky (Gossip Girl), and then everything else seems to have hopped on the bandwagon of fantasy to create just another witch and wizard/dragon/time travel novel.
But when I was growing up, there seemed to be no lack of good books to read — Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, Carolyn Keene… and even one book wonders wrote great stuff! I get nostalgic just thinking about it.
The fantasy genre back then was reserved for the really good ones. What’s amazing is that the rest of the books were simply about kids and their lives, everyday adventures, and dealing with issues that concerned them — something that seems to be lacking in books today.
Just imagine, back in the 70’s Paula Danziger was writing about weight insecurities and Judy Blume was dealing with divorce, coping with the loss of a loved one, and premarital sex. It’s weird that in the supposedly more liberated world that we live in today, the books children read don’t have more substance when they barely even get to read books because of the distractions of modern technology. No wonder they’re growing up spoiled.
Ok, so this was more of a diatribe than a review, hehe. But really, I just miss books from the good old days.
***
My copy: trade paperback from Book Sale
My rating: 4/5 stars
