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Artichoke's Heart

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 1,833 ratings · 351 reviews

Blubber meets Steel Magnolias in this funny and honest story about body image and family.

Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low p

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Hardcover, 276 pages

Published June 12th 2008 by Dutton Juvenile

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Jun 14, 2008 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen for TeensReadToo.com

Rosemary Goode is smart, funny, and sassy, but no one seems to notice. All anyone sees is her weight - all 200 pounds of it. She doesn't fit in at school, she finds herself getting made fun of by the popular Bluebirds, and the only boyfriend she'll ever have is Mr. Hershey, or Mr. M&M.

At the start of a new year, Rosemary finds herself disappointed. Santa just brought her an unwanted treadmill for Christmas and her Aunt Mar...more Reviewed by Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen for TeensReadToo.com

Rosemary Goode is smart, funny, and sassy, but no one seems to notice. All anyone sees is her weight - all 200 pounds of it. She doesn't fit in at school, she finds herself getting made fun of by the popular Bluebirds, and the only boyfriend she'll ever have is Mr. Hershey, or Mr. M&M.

At the start of a new year, Rosemary finds herself disappointed. Santa just brought her an unwanted treadmill for Christmas and her Aunt Mary gave her tickets to a "Healing the Fat Girl Within" Conference. On top of that, Rosemary's mother has sneakily set up counseling sessions for weight loss.

After a meltdown at her mother's gossipy salon, Rosemary decides she is going to lose the weight - on her terms. Rosemary tries various methods to lose weight, but it's a slow process. When Rosemary's mother is diagnosed with cancer, the distance between them grows even more and Rosemary tries to keep from turning back to food. Things start to look up when Kyle Cox, the school's newest football star, starts to take a notice in Rosemary. But how can popular, good-looking Kyle ever like a girl like Rosemary? And how will Rosemary bridge the ever-growing gap between her and her mother?

ARTICHOKE'S HEART is one of those books I wanted to stay in bed on a rainy day with and never stop reading. The cover and storyline may make you think this is light chick-lit, but the plot digs much deeper and carries a wide range of emotions that are great for any mood.

Rosemary is a fantastic character and her growth throughout the book is realistic. I was cheering her on the whole way through and felt as though I was on the journey with her. I also have to admit I had a bit of a crush on Kyle while reading this book! Author Suzanne Supplee put so much into her characters; they felt real and I didn't want to leave them. The Southern setting added an extra dose of charm to the story. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!
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Mar 18, 2013 Angelica Gonzalez rated it 5 of 5 stars

Rosie had a lot issues involving her weight, her mom, and her new crush. This story went by really fast, it's easy to follow along, once you start reading it you won't want to put it down. I really liked how i could connect to her story because most people are not that confident and it shows how she overcame her obstacles and proved to everyone that anybody can do it you just never give up.One of my favorite characters was Rosie she's the main character of the story and she's really down to eart...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Welzki rated it 4 of 5 stars

Im fascinated by this book by Supplee...it reminded me of the days when as a young adult, i have had "self-esteem" issues (even though i already know for a fact that there are qualities/traits more substantial than physical attributes). I believe that all of us, at certain times in our adolescent lives, had to go through a stage when we were so much concerned about our value as a person, if we're loved and accepted by others, or if we can ever find our own special place in the world, or fit in t...more

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Feb 01, 2010 Daisy added it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I think that Rosemary Goode should definitely encourage herself to lose weight but its sometimes hard. It's more of the "mind" work than to physically work. Its like quitting smoking. Sure, you really want to, but you're not really quitting until you actually DO.

So I see that Rosemary has been taking up to losing weight. Her methods include drinking this formula shake called Pounds-Away, and finally running on the "evil" treadmill her mother had bought for $700. I personally think that the runn...more I think that Rosemary Goode should definitely encourage herself to lose weight but its sometimes hard. It's more of the "mind" work than to physically work. Its like quitting smoking. Sure, you really want to, but you're not really quitting until you actually DO.

So I see that Rosemary has been taking up to losing weight. Her methods include drinking this formula shake called Pounds-Away, and finally running on the "evil" treadmill her mother had bought for $700. I personally think that the running on treadmill thing is gold and that drinking the Pounds-Away shake can potentially harming your body. The reason I think Rosemary got this fat in the first place is because according to what I read, she eats to numb the feeling. And since that her mother doesn't really talk to her much, (I realized that her mother was pretty closed up; don't like to reveal much)Rosie might often feel unloved, leading to her eating disorder problem, and then becoming an addiction to be eating too much food.

I'm also glad Rosie is going to Dr. Wallace for therapy because she could really use someone to talk to, considering that her mother is also too busy dealing with her problems and hopes. In other words, I feel sorry for the mother too because she has to deal with her salon and cancer. That's right, cancer. Rosie's mother had developed Hodgkin's disease and has only told the mishap to her sister, Mary. I guessed that that is why Rosie also felt left out and angry at her aunt.
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2/1/10
So Rosemary gains a new friend, Kay-Kay and KayKay turns out to be a complete opposite of Rosemary. She was a Bluebird but got completely rejected for being the opposite of a Bluebird, nice. Kay Kay came from a single father family who's an alcholic/depressed but despite that, she's completely cheerful and upbeat. She's also extremely athletic and after she became really good friends with Rosie, she even persuaded Rosie to exercise with her in the morning. At first, Rosie couldn't do it... 3 miles? That was WAY beyond her. However though, Rosie managed to start running and losing more and more of her weight.

She also gets asked out by Kyle and finally even for prom. Turns out Kyle had liked her the whole time since the incident with the chair though she had clumsily slipped the words, i love you to him and she feels insecure. The next day though, Kyle responds and he loves her too. :)

She also talked to her mother and Aunt Mary and all is better.

She also stops going to Dr. Wallace, her usual therapist. Rosie doesn't need her anymore.
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Jul 21, 2011 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

The reason I love this YA book so much is because even though the plot is about a girl who is overweight, you can relate with her no matter what size you are. This truly is a great comfort book, it gives you all the mushy feelings of romance and the joy of hearing how the protagonist, Rosemary Goode, loses and gains control of her life. This book was actually a relatively realistic for a YA book, it wasn’t too perfect and by end of the book, Rose hasn’t all of a sudden gone popular and gotten to...more

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Nov 18, 2008 Halfempty rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I picked up this book at the library because I was getting a cold and needed some YA fluff to pass my time. It had a positive review on the back from Carolyn Mackler, a YA author whose books I've really enjoyed, so I got it even though it seemed to be about a fat teenage girl's struggle to lose weight, a topic that few authors have ever handled in a way I can appreciate.

Although I thought the book was fairly well written and had good attention to setting, it was highly formulaic, and the main c...more I picked up this book at the library because I was getting a cold and needed some YA fluff to pass my time. It had a positive review on the back from Carolyn Mackler, a YA author whose books I've really enjoyed, so I got it even though it seemed to be about a fat teenage girl's struggle to lose weight, a topic that few authors have ever handled in a way I can appreciate.

Although I thought the book was fairly well written and had good attention to setting, it was highly formulaic, and the main character, Rosemary, was not terribly sympathetic. She was characterized as an obsessive eater, with chocolate bars stashed all over her room, who regularly binged on things like an entire tuna casserole or a whole bag of chips and a whole jar of salsa. She also had rock-bottom self-esteem.

Her mom (single, had Rosemary at age 17) and her awful aunt (size two, always pointing out areas where others need to improve) constantly pressure her to lose weight, which she, understandably, resents. But then, Rosemary develops a crush on a cute and very large member of the football team, and begins to diet--first by giving herself food poisoning, then by starving herself on packaged diet foods that make her sick. The book has little criticism for her methods. When she loses 40 pounds, 20 percent of her body weight, in a month, she is lavished with praise and she seems pleased by everyone's attention--whereas I think most people who lose weight don't want to hear "You've lost weight! You look so good!" because of the way it invades our personal boundary and devalues the person we've always been. Only one person looks at her methods, not just her results--her new friend Kay-Kay, once one of the cruel and exclusive popular crowd, but now rejected by them for being too nice.

Rosemary's friendship with Kay-Kay is the part of the book that rings truest to me (although Kay-Kay's struggles with alcohol seem fake--really, who throws up after two wine coolers? And whose parents would have wine coolers on hand to steal?). I was actually really affected by a part of the book where Rosemary and Kay-Kay pee in the woods together (after Rosemary rescues drunken Kay-Kay from ridicule by the popular crowd and helps her while she pukes). Rosemary's friendship with Kay-Kay lets her ease out of her egocentrism a little bit and see that other people are imperfect too, just like she is.

The worst part of the book was that at the end, when Rosemary has everything she wants--a boyfriend who likes her just the way she is, a fit body that can run three miles, a best friend who supports her--instead of becoming comfortable with her body and happy about the person she is, she imagines herself reaching her goal weight of 120 pounds within a year (we never know how tall she is, but if her aunt is 5'6", then I imagine she is about the same) and working out at the gym every day on her lunch break after running every morning. It seems to me that rather than becoming healthier and more confident, she may have developed an eating disorder. (less)

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Sep 02, 2008 Gwen the Librarian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: teenbooks

Rosemary is just about to turn sixteen and she has been fat all her life. Her mom and her aunt are always needling her and gave her a treadmill for Christmas! It’s her life; why do they care what she looks like? But when her mom is diagnosed with cancer and a good friend has a heart-attack because of her weight, Rosemary realizes that she has to make a change. With the help of a Walgreen’s clerk, a shunned cheerleader, and the boy of her dreams, Rosemary gets herself on track and learns that the...more

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Jul 27, 2008 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-2008, teen-fiction

Though there is a lot of sadness in this book (Rosemary's self-esteem is in the toilet because she is overweight, and her mom has cancer) there is also a lot of humor that made me keep cackling throughout the book.
*Spoiler alert*
I really love some of Rosemary's awesome comebacks to the snotty Bluebirds and love that she gets a boyfriend who loves her the way she is. There should be more Kyles in the world.
I don't love that she is dieting in a way that is dangerous and risky, consuming nothing b...more

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Nov 18, 2011 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay, so this book was just really good.

In case you think this is another boring fat-girl book, it’s not. I’m not overweight, but I have my little things (procrastination…) that make me really horrible when I “indulge”, and so this book was still very relatable to me.

I loved every character and every moment of this book. Her mother’s personality was so realistic, and the dynamics of the aunt-mother-daughter relationship was so well presented. Also Kyle was completely perfect and a good example o...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Joan rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you want to get inside the head of someone with an obsession with food and weight, this book is the one to read. Rosemary Goode is tipping the scales at 200 pounds when she finally gets the strength to begin losing weight with the help of "Pounds Off" diet drink. The narrative contains many insights into binge eating and the self-loathing that follows, as well as bullying and mean-girl talk directed at someone who is overweight. In addition to her weight problems, Rosie's mother finds out she...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Dlora rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction, humor, romance, young-adult

Rosemary Goode is good but she only sees herself as ugly fat and the target of mean putdowns by classmates and "helpful" criticisms from adults--and she's not above lashing back. This is the year that she decides she has to do something about her weight, spurred on by almost hitting 200, daydreaming about a really cute basketball player at school who seems to maybe like her, and making friends with a girl in school who has made the mistake with the popular crowd of being nice to Rosie. Rosie lea...more

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Feb 09, 2012 Katie Boehmer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Artichoke's Heart is a good book about the life of a high schooler. Rosemary Goode has never fit in at school. She has always been one of the biggest girls at her school and one day when she worn a green jumpsuit to school, everyone called her artichoke. Rosemary's mom on the other hand is one of the most famous people in their city. She is the owner of a beauty shop and all of the popular girls from Rosemary's school go there to get their hair done. As the summer comes to an end and it is time...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Andrea thebusybibliophile rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Andrea by: Walking through bookstore, the cover caught my eye.

Shelves: kindle

I loved this book. It was so fun and quirky. As someone who has always had an issue with weight, I lost count of the number of times I would read something and think, “that’s exactly what happened to me!” or “I remember feeling that way.” Suzanne Supplee really knows how to get to the bottom of how a ‘fat girl’ feels.

I thought about how, if you’re skinny, walking across the library probably isn’t a big deal. In fact, if you’re cute and petite like Kay-Kay Reese, it’s probably even fun—all that s

...more I loved this book. It was so fun and quirky. As someone who has always had an issue with weight, I lost count of the number of times I would read something and think, “that’s exactly what happened to me!” or “I remember feeling that way.” Suzanne Supplee really knows how to get to the bottom of how a ‘fat girl’ feels.

I thought about how, if you’re skinny, walking across the library probably isn’t a big deal. In fact, if you’re cute and petite like Kay-Kay Reese, it’s probably even fun—all that strutting and posing and sticking your good parts out. But, if you’re a fat girl, walking clear across the library is like crossing the interstate blindfolded.

This plot has been done before, but it didn’t feel like a repeat of anything I’ve ever read. The writing was fast paced and I really liked how the little things are skipped. Like, we didn’t go through every single class at school or every part of the goodbye at the end of a date. We just moved on to the next thing. Rosemary’s voice was great, she had a comeback every time someone said something smart to her (even if she didn’t always say them out loud). [The following quote was in a previous Teaser Tuesday, but I love it so much, I had to include it in the review.]

Right next to him was an empty chair. Quickly, before I lost the nerve, I plopped my barn ass into it. Big mistake. Warning! Chair on wheels! Rolling fat girl! Instead of sitting next to Kyle, I practically sat on Kyle. The computer table shook. Two seniors shot looks of pure hatred across the table. Even Mr. Lawrence glanced up from his newspaper.

I liked the variety of characters – sure, there were the clichéd mean girls and the gay hairdresser, but there was also the friendly, quirky neighbor, the bossy aunt and the not-so-mean mean girl. Most of them were fully fleshed out with depth. Rosemary was more than just the fat girl. There was a reason she gained weight and many reasons she wouldn’t lose it. She had believeable interactions with her mom and aunt (who were so close Rose actually found herself jealous), the girls at school and the boy she had a crush on. There was a little romance, though I wouldn’t call it sexy hotness. More like tender sweetness. In the end, Rosemary learned the lesson we knew she was going to, but it wasn’t really shoved down your throat. She came to it gradually and with help.

The cover is perfect; how can you go wrong with chocolate? Plus, the little artichokes in the chocolate add that tie-in. And I’ve always thought brown and pink together are pretty. Girly without going overboard.

The Sum Up: A fun, fast read that was entertaining from start to finish. Great characters and dialogue made it extra special.

'As reviewed on The Busy Bibliophile.'(less)

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Sep 15, 2011 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked this book up initially for its cover art and bought it for its blurb.

Rosemary Goode is in high school and struggling with weight. Her mother and aunt are both naturally thin, which plagues Rose more than her own weight. As she works in her mother's salon, she sees how much differently the beauticians treat the "popular" girls, which tends to drive her even more toward her one comfort - food. When her weight exceeds 200 pounds, she becomes determined to do something about it, one step a...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Sarah added it

Shelves: novel, ya, realistic

What a hot mess. I don't even know where to start with this. First of all, the characters are unbelievable and annoying. The main character's family is absolutely abusive to her over her weight, but that is all forgotten when her mom gets plot device... I mean cancer.... and Rosemary drops 50 lbs and suddenly all her problems are solved. Not only is her rapid weight loss completely unbelievable, but it is unbelievable the the author thought that this was a good message to put out there. "People...more

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Nov 18, 2010 Lisanna added it

From the first chapter you fall in love with Rosie. We're first introduced to Rosie as she tells us about her very dissapointing christmas and we soon find out that Rosie has just reached an all time high in weight gain. If that isn't bad enough, her mother owns a popular salon where people won't just let Rosie be and she has one heck of a nosy Aunt.
When she was small, Rosie was dubbed Artichoke one fateful day when she wore a green winter jacket to school. That name stuck with her and she stil...more

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Oct 09, 2010 Jessica Lawlor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee tells the story of Rosemary Goode, an overweight teenager from the South. Rosemary is not comfortable in her own skin and has a serious love affair with all things chocolate. Rosemary gets through her days by working in her mother’s hair salon and looking forward to the next time she can indulge in junk food.

After Christmas break, everything changes. Rosemary’s Aunt Mary, who constantly harrasses her about her weight buys her a weight loss book and her mother...more Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee tells the story of Rosemary Goode, an overweight teenager from the South. Rosemary is not comfortable in her own skin and has a serious love affair with all things chocolate. Rosemary gets through her days by working in her mother’s hair salon and looking forward to the next time she can indulge in junk food.

After Christmas break, everything changes. Rosemary’s Aunt Mary, who constantly harrasses her about her weight buys her a weight loss book and her mother buys her a treadmill.

Rosemary’s mother is diagnosed with cancer. Rosemary goes back to school and begins to have a crush on Kyle. Everything in Rosemary’s world has turned upside down. She even becomes friends with the once popular Kay-Kay, whose perfect body inspires Rosemary to get in shape.

This book took me a little while to get into, but once I did, I was hooked.

Rosemary was such a likable character because she was incredibly relateable. What teenage girl hasn’t doubted herself and her body? Everyone has struggled with their weight or appearance in at least some point in time. The story is told from Rosemary’s perspective and it was nice to get an inside look at Rosemary’s thoughts and feelings.

I loved each of the side stories and relationships throughout this book. Rosemary’s complicated relationship with her mother and her Aunt Mary, the romance between Rosemary and Kyle and the unlikely friendship between Rosemary and Kay-Kay made the book that much more interesting.

My only complaint about this book is that I was a little confused about when in time this story was taking place. I’m not from the South, so I attributed my confusion to the differences in culture, but the book felt a little old fashioned to me. I was kind of taken aback at the way Rosemary would say “I bought it on the Internet” as if the Internet was this new invention that you could buy things from. I’m not sure, but the book felt very old fashioned, when in reality, I think it was taking place in the present. Kyle seemed a little TOO gentlemen-like to me when I think about how guys today really act. Hey, maybe it’s a Southern thing though!(less)

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Aug 29, 2010 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-abe-lincoln-nominees, fat-girl-books, beauty-salons, mother-daughter-relationships, families, weight-issues, weight-loss, high-school, first-love, relationships, relationship-problems, young-adult-fiction, therapy, cancer, borrowed-from-the-library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Rosemary Goode has a love-hate relationship with food – she loves to eat it, but she hates what it’s doing to her. Her weight has been steadily climbing and she recently hit her all time high – 203lbs. Her mom and aunt are always on her case about taking the pounds off, and the Bluebirds (the popular girl clique in school) constantly make fun of her. Rosie decides to do something about it after one of her mother’s clients (mom owns a beauty salon) brings her cookies and she feels everyone in the...more Rosemary Goode has a love-hate relationship with food – she loves to eat it, but she hates what it’s doing to her. Her weight has been steadily climbing and she recently hit her all time high – 203lbs. Her mom and aunt are always on her case about taking the pounds off, and the Bluebirds (the popular girl clique in school) constantly make fun of her. Rosie decides to do something about it after one of her mother’s clients (mom owns a beauty salon) brings her cookies and she feels everyone in the shop staring at her, disapproving and expecting her to wolf them down. Losing the weight and distracting herself from her cravings and coping mechanisms is harder than anything she’s ever done before. Rosie starts seeing a therapist (who is studying the short term effects of counseling on weight loss), and finds that just talking to someone about all of the feelings she’s been keeping bottled up inside of her is helpful. She also puts herself on a liquid diet (drinks Pounds Away shakes), starts running on the treadmill her mom bought her for Christmas, makes a new friend (Kay-Kay) who loves exercise even more than Rosie likes to eat, and gets a boyfriend who seems to like her no matter what size she is. It’s an uphill battle, but gradually Rosie’s self-esteem begins to improve, she feels better, and she’s able to articulate and deal with her problems in new ways. Her journey is particularly difficult because her mom is diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease (cancer of the lymph system) and becomes quite ill.

This was an excellent fat-girl transformation story that honestly and realistically describes how difficult it is to lose weight, and the corresponding fears and hopes about what the weight loss will mean. In Rosie’s case, she didn’t do it the healthiest of ways, but that was realistic, too. She also had set-backs and days when she was hard-pressed not to fall back into her old habits. Becoming thinner wasn’t the biggest or most important change Rosie made, though – it was her choice to take control of her life and to ask for the things she wanted (and accept what people offered her). And while she struggled with self and body image, she was finally able to see herself as a beautiful and strong person – someone worth loving. That’s probably the most important thing. Rosie and her family are finally talking honestly by the end of this story, and Rosie’s well on her way to being a much happier person. While other stories over-glorify the character’s weight loss, this one helped to put it in its proper place. The cover, however, is enough to make anyone drool (lots of little chocolates in pink wrappers) and will not promote weight loss or healthy eating! :)(less)

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Jul 26, 2010 Joanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-contemporary

Blubber meets Steel Magnolias in this funny and honest story about body image and family.

Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low profile. Rosemary resolves to lose the weight, but her journey turns out to be about everything but the scale. Her life-changin...more Blubber meets Steel Magnolias in this funny and honest story about body image and family.

Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low profile. Rosemary resolves to lose the weight, but her journey turns out to be about everything but the scale. Her life-changing, waist-shrinking year is captured with brutal honesty and humor, topped with an extralarge helping of Southern charm. A truly uncommon novel about an increasingly common problem. From Amazon US

This was such a great story! Oh, I loved it on so many levels! Just so sweet and uplifting! Such an amazing story!

Reading the blurb, you would think that Artichoke's Heart is just about Rosie losing weight, and while that is what it's about, it's about so much more too! There are so many layers to this novel! It's also about friendship, romance, family, community, expectations... I could go on! Each of the layers does link to Rosie's weight issues in some way, but they also stand on their own. Will Rosie's unlikely friendship with a popular girl end up turning sour? Is there any chance the new jock could ever look at her? Will her aunt ever get off her back and stop being so insulting? Will her mother allow someone to help her take on the world? Will her mother's clients stop looking at her in that way? Will she end up making decisions for the right reasons, rather than because of other people? A lot goes on in this novel, but it's never chaotic. It all adds to the story, it all effects the main plot, and you're invested in finding out the answers to all the questions.

I loved how Rosie's attitude changed as the book progressed. I can't really go into this without spoiling the book, but there's a number of times where Rosie would realise something just doesn't matter, or she'd see things a different way, or someone would say something to her that opened her eyes. In some of these instances, even my attitude was changed. There is nothing more fantastic than reading a novel and having it change your perspective for the better and make you view yourself differently. This has happened a number of times for me over the course of Body Image and Self-Perception Month and I just love it! Even though I can't relate to Rosie's weight issues, I can relate to her general insecurities, and it's just wonderful to have been "helped" by Rosie's story.

I also loved the language! This story is set in the south, and being from the UK, at first the language was a bit odd to read Rosie refering to her mum as Mother all the way through the book, calling a woman she was close to Miss Bertha rather than just Bertha, and the colloquial spellings for the southern twang. However, the more I read, the more I loved it! I do love a southern accent, and it just ended up sounding really cute in my head.

There is so much I could say about this book, I could gush on forever, but I think a lot of it would be better discovered in your own reading - I really don't want to spoil this fantastic book for you! I do absolutely love it, and I will be reading more novels by Suzanne Supplee in future. You definitely need to pick this book up.

I'm going to leave you with one quote from the book that has stuck with me, "Well... when you look at a person's eyes or her smile, you can't tell how much she weighs..." (p253)

From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog.(less)

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May 23, 2010 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee met my expectations. I was not originally expecting a book that would change my life, although it did teach me a very useful lesson, and was rather interesting. It taught me about self image, and about the entirely false idea of "the grass being greener on the other side". On the contrary, Artichoke's Heart did fall into the common category of getting be bored at one point or another. I rated this book a 3/5 stars because although it was a "good read" there...more

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May 10, 2010 Taran Winkler added it

This book is absolutely Amazing... The story of a young teenage girl facing boy problems, weight insecurity, and a horrid aunt was something i could completely connect with... I am a little chubby and am still to this day harrased about my weight and sometimes i feel like a complete loser when i stand next to these gorgeouse skinny girls at my school but i just cant seem to imgaine life without a candy bar in hand and the boy thing, well all i have to say on the matter is god bless the woman tha...more

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May 10, 2010 Kelly Hager rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is about Rosemary, a teenager in Tennessee. Rosemary (nicknamed "artichoke" by the popular girls because she once wore a huge green jacket) is overweight--not just 10 pounds or whatever, but huge. She's hit the 200 pound mark. Her mom and aunt are pressuring her to lose weight (Christmas gifts: two self-help books, a treadmill and tickets to a weight loss conference) and she has no friends. (As in literally no friends.)

So she decides to start losing the weight, because how hard can it be, r...more

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Apr 09, 2010 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up besides the fact that I liked the cover. Its brown background covered in chocolates wrapped in pink grabbed my attention. I was probably just hungry, but after reading a few pages, I decided to stick with it. And I’m glad (I think) that I did.

This is the story of Rosemary Goode (whose nickname is Artichoke, something you come to understand through reading the book) and her struggle to lose weight and accept herself. She’s 15 at the beginning of...more I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up besides the fact that I liked the cover. Its brown background covered in chocolates wrapped in pink grabbed my attention. I was probably just hungry, but after reading a few pages, I decided to stick with it. And I’m glad (I think) that I did.

This is the story of Rosemary Goode (whose nickname is Artichoke, something you come to understand through reading the book) and her struggle to lose weight and accept herself. She’s 15 at the beginning of the book and lives in a small town outside of Nashville called Spring Hill. She is highly intelligent and excels in English. Her time after school is mostly spent working in her mother’s beauty parlor. Sounds pretty normal. But Rosemary has an obsession with food, and over the winter holidays her weight balloons up to 203 pounds. She has candy bars stashed under her bed and can barely walk past the fridge or pantry without being mercilessly tempted by something inside. She knows she has to do something or her weight will just continue rising and she’ll be unhappy for the rest of her life.

I’m sure this book sounds cliché, and at points I will admit it can be. Southernisms are used a little too obviously and frequently, but I can’t compare Supplee, a first-time author, to a great Southern female writer like Flannery O’Connor. O’Connor makes you know you’re in the South in subtle ways, Supplee is a little more obvious. And of course Rosemary’s weight is referred to in all sorts of ways, some gentle and others a little more painful. But regardless, I enjoyed this story in spite of myself. Rosemary does just what you would expect her to do—she starts losing weight, makes friends with one of the most popular girls in school, and even lands the school basketball star. But it’s not the ending; it’s the story that makes Rosemary interesting and likable. I wish I could say I can’t relate to Rosemary, but sometimes I can, and I think it’s important for young girls to have someone like her to guide them when the people around them can’t. Rosemary goes through the typical teenage girl struggles and more in this book, and she is really someone a reader can relate to and look up to.

Taken from my blog: libchickreads.wordpress.com
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Feb 05, 2010 K Nolfi rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book is quite engaging and well written, actually but it made me feel so bad because it subscribed to conventional bullshit about fat and self-worth. SPOILER!!!!!

She loses the weight at the end of the book. She basically has an eating disorder but the author weirdly glosses over this and constructs her weight loss journey as a healing one, somehow. Even though she drinks diet shakes. Even though she eats a rancid mayonnaise sandwich expressly to make herself vomit (kids, that's called bulim...more

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Jan 06, 2010 Cindy Hudson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rosemary Goode lives in Spring Hill, Tennessee, where her mother owns the busiest beauty shop in town. Her life is pretty routine: she goes to high school, works in her mother’s shop, and spends time on her own, but she doesn’t have friends to hang out with. Rosie is also a binge eater, sometimes eating huge amounts of food. Her crisis comes over Christmas break when she gains quite a bit of weight and can no longer fit in her largest clothes.

Rosie decides something has to be done, and she begin...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Kathleen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

I read this book on a recommendation, and overall, I enjoyed it. Rosemary was a very likable main character, and I felt that her year-long transformation was believable, if not quite serendipitous. Rosemary wasn't your typical YA chick-lit heroine, which was refreshing, and Supplee successfully incorporated the darker undertones of Rosemary's mother's battle with cancer into the story. The novel definitely dragged in the middle; it seemed to be continuing just for the sake of filling more pages...more

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Feb 17, 2009 Paige Y. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: z-2009-books-read, z-2009-ya-fiction

I had marked Artichoke's Heart for purchase several months ago when I read the reviews of several respected bloggers. I must say they were all right -- this is a wonderful book that is about so much more than what you weigh.

Rosemary is an only child. Her mother was seventeen when she was born and she's never known her father. Her mother was determined to succeed despite having a child at a young age and she had developed and extremely bust hair and nail salon. In fact, Rose immersed herself so d...more

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Jan 16, 2009 KRISTI ♫ ♪ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-favorie-books

Aww! It was one of the sweetest books ever! (The cover really suits it too! With the artichoke, the bluebird, and the hairdryer.)
There were some really funny/perverted parts but the other parts were SSSOOOO cute/sweet!
It's about a girl, Rosemary, who's overweight and how she really really wants to get skinny. She and her mom aren't as close as she would like them to be so she wants to fix that too. And the people at school...gawd...they are SO mean to her!
Interesting things about this book: W...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Toni Tortorello-Allaway rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. I was enthusiastically engaged in it from beginning to end. It's an empowering story of fighting teenage obesity and teenaged bullying. I love how Rosie found herself in this book. It wasn't cheesy or corny as many teenaged stories can be.

I loved how poignantly the author captured a teenager's weight-loss struggle. This path is all too familiar to me. Maybe that's why I identified with it so closely. I love the relationship between Kay-Kay and Rosie. Sometimes all it t...more

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Feb 24, 2009 Deborah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Good book, well written, should probably add to my teen collection at the library. I really liked Rosemary, the main character, though I could've done without several of the supporting characters such as the perfect grandma and the perfect boyfriend (best friend was also perfect, but was at least pretty funny).

A good portrayal of a southern setting -- I like one that is not too "HEY Y'ALL THIS HERE IS THE SOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But one thing that always bothers me about books where the main characte...more

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About Suzanne Supplee

Suzanne Supplee is the author of When Irish Guys Are Smiling, a Students Across the Seven Seas series book, and Artichoke’s Heart. Currently, Suzanne is working on her third book, untitled as of yet, but due out in the spring of 2010.
Suzanne is a graduate of Southern Illinois University, and she earned a masters degree in creative writing from Towson University in Maryland. For a number of years,...more

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“Emily Dickinson , in my opinion, is the perfect (although admittedly slightly cliche) poet for lonely fat girls.” — 16 people liked it

“Heat prickled my cheeks. My palms went clammy. Love is a lot like food poisoning.” — 15 people liked it

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