diverse teen fiction (gay teen girl recovering from a breakup who also struggles with anxiety about her body image, among other things, 1990s small town Ohio)

I guess I picked up the sequel instead of the first one? I'm a little lost in the first chapter, think I should maybe read [b:Fat Angie|15798674|Fat Angie|E.E. Charlton-Trujillo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1351213550l/15798674._SX50_.jpg|21521615] first. Angie seems very sharp witted, but also has a lot of anxiety.

As much as I wanted to love this book, I just couldn't. I felt as though the writing was too focused on Angie's weight ALL OF THE TIME that it made it repetitive and one-dimensional. It was annoying-not-annoying (read: the overuse of hyphens was also super repetitive). As an empowered plus-size woman, I wanted to see that in Angie, but instead I was listed every candy bar she ate and all of the shaming she faced. ( )

In this sequel to Fat Angie, things have gone from bad to worse for Angie. Her sister, the war hero, has died in Iraq, and Angie is experiencing all of the stages of grief simultaneously. It doesn’t help that her mother has made it clear that she wished Angie had died instead of her sister. Angie is still being bullied at school, her girlfriend has moved away, and her best friend Jake is dating Stacy Ann, one of her worst tormentors. When Angie has had enough and breaks bully Gary Klein’s nose in self defence, Angie’s mom threatens to send her to Whispering Oaks, a juvenile rehabilitation facility with behavior modification treatments for challenging teens, including conversion therapy for those experiencing “sexual identiy crisis.” Angie decides to take a road trip with an estranged friend who has recently moved back to town: Jamboree Memphis Jordon. Jamboree’s RV, her friend Zeke, and tag-along Darius prove to be the perfect companions and cheerleaders as Angie decides to do everything on her sister’s road trip wish list. Even though everything on the list terrifies her, Angie realizes that there are some things that she just needs to do in order to figure out how to live.

It had been 3 years since I had read Fat Angie, and even though the sequel mostly stands on its own, it helps to have read the first book. It took me a couple of tries to get into the sequel, however, mostly because I didn’t really care for Angie as a character in either book. Her use of “gay-girl-gay” to describe herself was annoying to me; I never really understood why “gay” wouldn’t suffice. The use of 80s and 90s songs for chapter headings also annoyed me. I know that many adults are now reading YA literature for fun, but the primary audience is still teens, and I don’t know many teens who are familiar with music from my generation. Angie has many, many issues, and I wanted to like her because she has been through a lot, but I just didn’t find her to be a likeable character. Readers should be aware that there are many instances of violence, fat-shaming, homophobia, and hate speech, with references to suicidal thoughts and self-harm. Parts of the book, specifically the road trip, were fun, and I was rooting for Angie to accomplish everything on her sister’s list. Other parts, however, were unrealistic and played on stereotypes. Overall, I would only recommend this book to students in gr. 9-12 who read and enjoyed Fat Angie. Otherwise, it’s an optional purchase. ( )

Angie is about to start sophomore year, and she's miserable. She made it through 9th grade on her second go, but her girlfriend has moved away, her best friend has been emotionally distant, the guy who has been bullying her has increased his efforts, and Angie is still trying to figure out how to mourn her sister. She is certain that she doesn't like the very public method of grieving that their mother has adopted, and it's after the ceremonial unveiling of her sister's statue that Angie finds her own way. Her sister had written one last letter to Angie, and it detailed a road trip plan for the two of them--a plan that she hoped would help Angie conquer many of her fears.

FAT ANGIE: REBEL GIRL REVOLUTION by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo is a follow-up to FAT ANGIE. Unfortunately, I didn't read the first book, but that didn't stop me from being able to immerse myself in Angie's story--and her pain. Charlton-Trujillo fills in the book one backstory so that readers who are new to Angie can keep up as she moves forward, and the author manages it without interrupting the flow of her narrative too much. And that narrative ... I enjoyed it so much. The writing style for FAT ANGIE is different. There are plenty of lists, there are definitions, and there are a lot of hyphenated descriptors, and it took a couple of pages for me to adapt. Once I did, the story pulled me in and left me completely invested in Angie, her pain, and her humor.

Charlton-Trujillo's approach to telling Angie's story fits perfectly with her main character's thoughts, and a lot of those thoughts are dark and angry because Angie's life is filled those things. Happily, Angie is remarkably resilient, and there's enough humor, love, and adventure to balance the pain. That said, there were plenty of sections of the book that left me reading with tears streaming down my face--be warned if, like me, you read books in public places. As Angie observes, "Life is heart and ache ... you can't have one without the other."

FAT ANGIE's secondary characters, though diverse, aren't as well drawn as Angie, and we get to see them only through Angie's lens. And Angie's relationships with her friends and family are far from perfect. Her mother is unapproachable and judgmental, Angie feels that all of her friends have deserted her over the years, and Angie has trouble accepting kindnesses from people. She's seeing a therapist, but Angie is suspicious of anything that has been arranged by her mother, so she's afraid to be too invested in the therapist's suggestions.

There are many great observations in FAT ANGIE, and many lessons about grieving, friendships, and self-love. But my favorite might be one that I shared with my own teen daughter: "Girls who have a story don't ever have to apologize for living it. You just gotta learn from it."

FAT ANGIE: REBEL GIRL REVOLUTION is a terrific book, and my thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for my unbiased review. ( )

I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher (Candlewick Press) in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I just want to put out a trigger warning since this book deals with a lot of serious topics such as fat shaming, bullying, grief, homophobia, and self-harm.

This book is the sequel to Fat Angie, and going into this book I did not know that. I had thought it was a standalone book. Even though I did not read the first book, I was still able to understand what was happening in this book. There were a few things that I was confused about in the beginning, but I managed to figure it out.

I liked the plot of the book, particularly the road trip aspect. The reason why I wanted to read this book was because it was about an RV road trip. I’m an RVer so that appealed to me. The best parts of the book involved the road trip. The beginning of the book is really heavy subject-wise, so the road trip came at the perfect time.

However, the execution of the book wasn’t great. The writing style wasn’t my favorite. It was a bit awkward and clunky at times. I wished it flowed more smoothly.

Overall, I enjoyed the story despite some flaws in the execution. ( )