Artichoke's Heart

This book by Suzanne Supplee shows what it's like being an extra curvy (I use that word instead of fat or obese, it sounds much kinder and more positive about being womanly) teenager from the teenager's point of view.

It made me sad & angry. Sad about the way Rosemary feels about herself, the way she's treated by family and strangers alike at the beginning of the book. How many times do we judge a person by their 'cover'? But the out right verbal abuse she takes is incendiary, thus the angry. How could people say those things out loud? How could her mother let it happen (both the words and her daughter getting to a morbidly obese weight?). This story is a journey about transformation.

There are a lot of sins of omission in this book. And a big gap between mother and daughter that needs to be bridged. How they learn to close that gap and talk to one another is a big part of healing Rosemary from the inside so she works to change the outside. That, and a cute guy that thinks she's hot regardless of her size. That'll turn any girls head! Not to mention how she overcomes the mean girls!

This book reminded me not to judge others until I've walked a mile in their shoes, which translates to never. Also, curvy or skinny, every woman has body issues she needs to work out. I know, every curvy woman just rolled her eyes at me, but it's true.

Lastly, a person won't work to change the way they look (or behave for that matter) until they are motivated internally, not by being forced into it, even or rather, especially by those who love them.

This is a good coming of age YA story that reminded me it's all about the eyes and the smile, not about the size of the thighs that matters.

Instead of  a question this week, I challenge you instead to spend the day not judging everyone you see but rather looking into their eyes and noticing their smile. It's the heart that matters.

Here are the link and blurb. 

http://www.amazon.com/Artichokes-Heart-Suzanne-Supplee/dp/0142414271/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375839656&sr=8-1&keywords=artichokes+heart%5C

It's not so easy being Rosemary Goode and tipping the scales at almost two hundred pounds, especially when your mother runs the most successful (and gossipiest!) beauty shop in town. After a spectacularly disastrous Christmas break when the scale reaches an all-time high, Rosemary realizes that things need to change. (A certain basketball player, Kyle Cox, might have something to do with it.) So begins a powerful year of transformation and a journey toward self-discovery that surprisingly has little to do with the physical, and more to do with an honest look at how Rosemary feels about herself.