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Dec 20, 2011

ijul (yuliyono) rated it:

-----3,5 star

I LOVE THIS BOOK

Nggak nyangka bakal jatuh suka sama buku ini, dan kelar dengan begitu cepatnya pas dibaca. Ngalir banget ceritanya, dan nggak bertele-tele, meskipun ending-nya agak sedikit terlalu mudah. Pengen lebih greget. Tapi, cukup seru (banget) sihh...love it. Tema-nya pun oke. Asyik-lah pokoke!

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2012

Speakercoret rated it:

Aku benci ayahku. Aku benci sekolah. Aku benci tubuh gemukku. Aku benci Kepala Sekolah karena ia ingin memecat Ms.Finney, guru bahasa inggrisku.

Membaca kalimat pertama itu, aku mengira Marcy ini tentu orang yang sering mengeluh, tidak puas dengan apapun, penyendiri dan mungkin pemarah..

Setelah meneruskan membaca terbukti semua yg kukira di awal ternyata banyak yg salah..
Mercy memang penyendiri, tapi dia bukan pemarah, dia pemalu.. Dia malu akan kegemukan tubuhnya, d More...

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 20, 2011

Peni rated it:

Perkenalkan, namaku Marcy Lewis. Aku gemuk dan berjerawat. Canggung dan mudah gugup. Sekolahku mengerikan. Aku tahu teman-teman tertawa di belakangku. Keadaan di rumah lebih buruk. Ayah menganggapku tidak berarti, dan seringkali bertengkar dengan ibu. Singkatnya, aku punya banyak masalah!

Review saya:
Ini buku bagus yang pernah saya baca. Tentang common problem gadis ABG. Yang kehilangan rasa percaya diri gara-gara bertubuh gemuk dan berjerawat. Marcy merasa dia adalah orang dengan More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 13, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

Oh Marcy, could I love you more? This book helped me and a lot of other girls accept what we looked like and who we were. I especially like this cover (the one I own) as that is EXACTLY what I imagine Marcy to look like!

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 17, 2010

Phoebe rated it:

Warning: this review might make me sound like an old person.

I couldn't help but read The Cat Ate My Gymsuit with a bit of wistfulness. Though the characters, voice, and situations likely still remain true to life, I suspect that there just isn't a place for books like Danziger's in the current world of children's and young adult writing.

It's the story of Marcy, a fat middle schooler whose horizons are opened up by her new hippie teacher, Ms. Finney. Ms. Finney encourages More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2010

Nicole rated it:

Marcy Lewis is a girl who goes to school to kind of escape her life at home. She feels better at school with teachers because her father doesn't give her attention. Marcy has a favorite teacher named Ms. Finney who teaches her english class. Ms. Finney is a fun teacher because she makes all the students happy and she tries to help them learn in many different and helpful ways. But one day, Ms. Finney can't teach at Marcy's school anymore and of course all of her students can't believe that the b More...

0 comments like

Sep 03, 2009

Leslie rated it:

I had the audio version of this book (downloaded from my state's FREE audio library service - see if yours has one!) and LOVED it. It was produced by Full Cast Audio which is awesome if you listen to a book by them. I had to compose myself several times before going into a couple stores today while listening in my car because it was emotional. LOL It also has a segment at the end by Paula Danziger herself which was neat for lack of a better word. :)

I would recommend this book for ear More...

2 comments like

Jul 19, 2011

Mary rated it:

This was my first audiobook that wasn’t a children’s picture book. I listened to The Cat Ate My Gymsuit (2 hrs and 46 min) by Paula Danziger, read by Caitlin Brodnick and the Full Cast Family. It is recommended for ages 12 to adult. I chose this from YALSA 2005 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults. According to ALA, YALSA judges on the following criteria: “appeal to teen audiences ages 12-18, effective use of voices, music, sound effects, and language, appropriateness, and the quality and c More...

1 comment like

Mar 27, 2011

Karen rated it:

This book is talking about a girl called Marcy Lewis that really hate to go to gym class and her father. She is a fat girl who does not want to change gym suit in gym, she always tell her teacher that the cat eats her gym suit. However, there is a new teacher comes, she is Ms. Finney, the one who changes Marcy a lot. In her class, Marcy meets her new friends, learns a lot, and even meets a boy that she loves. But Ms. Finney is suspended because the school does not like the teaching method that More...

0 comments like

Dec 17, 2009

Amy rated it:

This book will always have a special place in my heart. I was twelve when I read it and completely identified with the main character and her struggles. I also loved the teacher in the story, who helped inspire me to be a teacher (at least for a little while). I still recommend this book to preteens and teens who feel they just don't fit in.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 05, 2011

Kerith rated it:

I re-read this for the first time since I was a kid. I'm not a fan of Danziger's writing style but I love the story. Marcy Lewis is a smart but overweight/average-looking 13-year-old (thus making her teaseworthy bait since this is middle school) with a shy mother and an overbearing, sexist Dad. She gets a new English teacher in school who really teaches her -- not only English, but to think for herself and to think kindly of others. Unfortunately, this is the early 70s and this teacher is a woma More...

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Mar 04, 2011

Andrea Jean rated it:

This one's an oldie, but I'm really not sure if I'd read it before now. Not my favorite Paula Danziger. I used to love The Pistachio Prescription, which is also about a teenage girl with low self-esteem taking a stand at school and maybe having a crush on a boy. But hippie teacher and the old-school conservative jerk dad (who is also pretty one-dimensional) in The Cat Ate My Gymsuit just don't stand the test of time to me. The whole thing is pretty dated -- like, saying the teacher is progressiv More...

0 comments like

Aug 25, 2009

Laura rated it:

I remember relating to this book in the way that I never related to any of the Judy Blume books, mostly because Marcy's father yells a lot. My own was not verbally abusive the way hers unfortunately is, but I do understand her fear of the yelling. There are maybe two mentions of wishing for bigger breasts, instead of freaking pages full of tween angst and prayers to God about how nice bras look when they're stuffed and how nice it would be if the main character could suddenly grow a bigger rac More...

0 comments like

Feb 03, 2011

katsok rated it:

Student walked in with this book (exact cover above) the other day. I about lost it when I was checking her in. I read this when I was a kid - fifth, sixth grade, can't remember. I loved it but hadn't seen it in awhile. She gave it to me when she was done. It was so strange, I remembered the book, the cover, and Marcy, but really couldn't remember the plot. Then I read the first chapter and it all came flooding back.

Marcy, her self-image issues, her jerk of a father, her loathing of P More...

0 comments like

Jan 10, 2011

Richardhd96 rated it:

Marcy Lewis is an overweight, thirteen year old girl with acne all over her face. She has a dad that is always yelling at her and a little brother that stuffs orange pits in a teddy bear. Her life is horrible until Ms. Finney comes to school. Ms. Finney is Marcy's new English teacher. She teaches in a whole different way than other teachers. She had a guitar player come into the class, they watch a lot of videos, and she teaches them to express their feelings. Marcy is finally feeling More...

0 comments like

Jan 04, 2009

Terry rated it:

This is one of those modern classics that people can relate to, even decades after it was first published. Although some of the details in the book are dated, I enjoyed the book's take on teens trying to find themselves, controlling parents, and mean principals who try to micromanage their teachers and students. The concept of freedom of speech is important, especially given the assault on that right that we have suffered over the past several years, and the book's take on the issue was spot o More...

0 comments like

Jun 14, 2010

Anna rated it:

Horrible. Really. The only reason I didn't give it one star is because actually learn some things from this book... as in what NOT to do when writing. None of the characters were likable, and they were highly underdeveloped. Also, the plot was overly simplistic and contrived. The dad is evil of course, the mother oppressed, the liberal teacher expelled by the super-conservative principal, yadda, yadda. I felt that it failed to deal with issues that it appeared to be treating (i.e. obesity). I th More...

0 comments like

Jan 16, 2009

Aziza rated it:

I really like the book the cat ate my Gym suit. I think the book is really funny, sad, and happy and it has so many interesting parts to it. In the book the main character Marcy Lewis hates school; she despairs of ever being thin. Then along comes Ms. Finney, an English teacher who’s willing to try anything in the classroom and who treats the kids like human beings. Marcy has never met anyone like her, and suddenly life has a purpose. When Ms. Finney is suspended because of her teaching methods, More...

0 comments like

Jun 04, 2009

Emily rated it:

(3.5) This was a nice quick "modern classic"-- I don't think I read it as a kid, but I could have. Though a lot of the story holds up now, 30+ years later, a lot of it is dated (Miss vs. Ms., women's liberation issues, smoking "grass", etc.) Girls will still be able to relate to Marcy's weight issues, her mean father, and her clueless mother, however. I'm not sure who I would give this book to-- it is written at a pretty low reading level (4th-5th grade), but features a 13 y More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 12, 2010

Lyn rated it:

I picked up this book at Good Will last week, and when I arrived at home, I began to flip through it, and accidentally ended up reading the whole book in about an hour and a half one night. This book was so dear to me when I was younger. I knew what Marcy meant about the self esteem issues and her fear about stepping out from the shadows of her life. The wording is very basic, but the story had an overall message that even though you are having a hard time in your life, other people feel the More...

0 comments like

Feb 09, 2010

Lisa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jun 26, 2009

Lm rated it:

This book is supposed to have universal appeal, and while many of the issues are still relevant today (young girls struggling with body image, verbally abusive fathers, teachers under fire for unorthodox or unpopular methods and viewpoints) I just couldn't get past the old-fashioned dialogue; it didn't ring true to what I recognize today. I understand the book is 35 years old, but for some reason this just didn't resonate with me the way I expected it to. Judy Blume's books on similar subjec More...

0 comments like

Feb 25, 2008

Chattycathy7575 rated it:

I'm currently revisiting some 70s/80s young adult novels I either read when I was a "young adult" or totally missed out when I was in the target demographic. Cat Ate My Gymsuit falls into the latter category. This review put me on a quest to find it at my local thrift. Gymsuit screams 1974, the year of its first printing but still stands up in our current retrogressive political climate. Marcy is a shy, chubby girl who has few friends and makes an excuse every day to skip gym class (he More...

1 comment like

Aug 10, 2007

Kate rated it:

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed and related to The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, although I saw Marcy’s insecurities through different eyes than when I first read the book as a middle schooler. I felt a tenderness towards Marcy, a sort of recognition, since I too suffered those crippling teen anxieties and got through them thanks to nurturing relationships with teachers and friends. I also found myself relating more directly to Ms. Finney and Marcy’s mother as peers rather than The Grown More...

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Nov 08, 2010

Alex rated it:

I really loved this book, simply because I could relate to the character's feelings towards herself. This is the kind of book I could probably read more than once. Her excuses for gym class became pretty funny. There are times I feel embarrassed to play in gym because of my weight and how I look, and I always wonder if I'm being made fun of. I don't blame her for making an excuse each time to avoid being teased. Teasing can be pretty hurtful. Like my friend told me on the train earlier this week More...

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Feb 17, 2011

Rebekah rated it:

I'm really surprised to hear that so many people liked this book - I am at a loss to say anything about it. I can't say that it was really terrible, it was just pointless to me. The characters were a little too basic and contrived - they are either good or evil, with no exploration into their viewpoints, backgrounds, or values. For a book that seems to be promoting understanding other people and accepting new ideas, it felt very one-sided to me.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 06, 2012

Celecta rated it:

CBN: (147) I’m a teacher and I wanted to hear more of why she was a good teacher.
As probably could be assumed from the title this books was a bit difficult to believe for a number of reasons. One the characters in the book did not seem realistic. Often they said things that would not be heard in this setting at all. This may have something to do with the time it was written. People may have acted different back then than they do now.

0 comments like

Sep 28, 2010

Leora rated it:

This is a good book!It is about a girl who has very low self-esteem.So she joins a group her teacher made,and it helped her build up confidence.But the principal wanted to get her fired,so she and her group took a stand and let her stay.But the teacher didnt want too.Also her father is the worst,he always makes the mom,herseld and her brother cry.He was totally against the teacher staying.But the mother was onm her side...

0 comments like

Apr 08, 2011

Heidi rated it:

This is one of those classic YA novels. Aside from a few indications of the times in 1974, many teens would still be able to relate easily. It does encourage dating a bit early, though. And I think she was a little off when she indicated the girl was 13 in the 9th grade. The most interesting thing about it was to find that the Dead Poet Society totally stole this idea. It's almost an exact parallel.

0 comments like

Oct 25, 2009

Chris rated it:

I read this back in my younger days, and remember liking it. Well, I still liked. Although now I think the book is less about Ms. Finney and more about Marcy and her mom taking control of their lives and coming into their own. The dad was horrible. I loved the way the rest of the family came together though, and the great friendships Marcy formed. Reading it now, I was thinking how cool it would be if Marcy's mom dumped that jerk of a husband and married Joel's dad!

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