Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have
Author: Allen Zadoff
Publisher: Egmont
4½ out of 5 stars
The
stares bore into you from all directions like laser beams. It feels as if everyone is looking right at
you, judging you. How could they not,
you’re kind of hard to miss in the first place. You try to walk faster, but it’s difficult with
all of your fat weighing you down. It
feels as if you take up the entire hallway, and with every step the ground
trembles under your weight. You wish you
could just sit on everyone and crush them.
Then you wouldn’t have to deal with the names and cruel jokes that never
seem to end. But you know that’s not
going to work. So instead, you just take
a bite of your cookie, and keep on walking…
At
307 pounds, Andrew Zansky is the second heaviest kid at Newton High
School. It doesn’t help that his mom is
a caterer as well. With food always at
his disposal, Andrew finds it difficult to commit to losing weight. His size 48 pants never seem to fit, and he’s
sick of avoiding gym class at all costs.
But one girl changes all of that.
Andrew is now a sophomore in high school, and with a new year comes big
changes.
Her
name is April. That’s all he knows the first
time he meets her. It’s at one of his
mother’s catering events, and she seems to appear out of nowhere as Andrew
noshes on his mother’s mini creations.
In those few minutes of chatting with her, Andrew can’t stop thinking
about her. To Andrew’s surprise, April
is the new girl at Andrew’s school this year.
If Andrew wants to get the girl, he’s going to have to move fast. Faster than ever before.
After
getting saved by the legendary O. Douglas, the quarterback and most-popular guy
at school, Andrew knows exactly what he needs to do. He can lose the weight and become popular all
at once by joining the football team.
But will Andrew be able to change completely in order to commit to his
new lifestyle? Is Andrew meant to be
popular, or will he always be “that fat kid?”
Allen Zadoff reveals all in his humorous story of one boy’s journey to
reinvent himself inside and out in, Food,
Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have!
Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t
Have had me laughing out loud and
giggling to myself at Andrew’s unique look on life. I got a chance to see his struggles and his
triumphs as he did all he could to accomplish what he thought it was that he
really wanted. Taking your typical high
school kid, author Allen Zadoff makes him come alive with personality and real
emotions. I recommend Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have
for any teens out there (boys and girls alike) looking for a read that will
help them find themselves.
Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t
Have goes on the list of one of the
funniest books I’ve read. The witty
lines here and there throughout the novel are so unexpected at times. Andrew had a sarcastic, yet truthful outlook
on his weight. He didn’t lie about his
body or try to kid himself. He knew that
he was overweight, and he wasn’t shy about calling himself fat. That’s not to say that he was happy about
it. Andrew’s comical take on the
situation made the book an enjoyable read, that had me laughing along, rather
than a book that was bogged down by Andrew’s issues and him feeling sorry for
himself.
At
times the high school setting in Food,
Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have felt clichéd. There was the typical popular guy, the geeks,
the girl, and the guy trying to do everything he could to get noticed. Despite feeling like any other book that
dealt with your everyday high school teens, this was a book that also dug
deeper and got into the emotions behind the trivial, petty fights that go on
between teens. Being in high school
myself, I could relate extremely well to the things that go on in a teen’s
life. Things such as just feeling like
you have to have a group to fit in with, or someone to walk to class with might
not seem like much at the time, but the little things that go on in high school
certainly do make a difference.
Andrew’s
story became so much more than just a boy trying to get the girl. As he climbed up the social ladder and experimented
in new social circles, he realized just what it was that he was missing. But he didn’t necessarily like everything he
saw. With the higher status came drama,
and he slowly realized that not everyone was who they appeared to be. In the end, this became Andrew’s journey of realizing
exactly what it was that he wanted,
and not what everyone else thought he did.
Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t
Have takes a regular teen and delves
into the inner workings and struggles of day-to-day high school life. Fitting in, and finding a place to belong
resonate throughout this book as Andrew gets a taste of the different
possibilities school has to offer. Join
Andrew as he does all he can to shed the pounds, and gain the confidence to get
what he wants in life in, Food, Girls,
and Other Things I Can’t Have!
-This is T.B. with Another Book Back on the Shelf…
Until Next Time, Keep Reading!
My signed copy of Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have from Bridge To Book's The Why Chromosome: Why Boys Do Love Books event! Thank you so much Allen Zadoff!
Check out Allen Zadoff's website at www.allenzadoff.com.
From this summary I got that Andrew wasn't going to immediately be typecast into one category once he made up his mind to lose weight. I really like that aspect of this book. It seems really positive and can inspire others with this story. Thanks for the great review.
ReplyDeleteWhoa how cool that you got your copy signed! This book sounds like a really fun read. I don't think that I'd be able to resist myself either if I had a mom who was a caterer....
ReplyDeleteI loooooooved, FGAOTICH! I really liked Andrew as a character--reminds me of a kid I knew in high school who despite some wacky life circumstances continues to be an all-around great guy as an adult. Both Andrew and this kid I knew made me laugh a lot, too (with them, not at them ;)
ReplyDelete