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354th out of 874 books
—
1,833 voters
Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have
by
Allen Zadoff (Goodreads Author)
What’s worse than being fat your freshman year?
Being fat your sophomore year.
Life used to be so simple for Andrew Zansky–hang with the Model UN guys, avoid gym class, and eat and eat and eat.He’s used to not fitting in: into his family, his sports-crazed school, or his size 48 pants.
But not anymore.Andrew just met April, the new girl at school and the instant love of his...more
Being fat your sophomore year.
Life used to be so simple for Andrew Zansky–hang with the Model UN guys, avoid gym class, and eat and eat and eat.He’s used to not fitting in: into his family, his sports-crazed school, or his size 48 pants.
But not anymore.Andrew just met April, the new girl at school and the instant love of his...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
September 8th 2009
by EgmontUSA
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Three words; touching, heartfelt, humorous!
This novel was so refreshing! I can't remember the last time I actually enjoyed a novel about an obese person trying to fit in, in High School. Usually with this type of story, I'm frustrated and cringing. But with FG&OTIVH (yeah I'm not going to type that out again!) I couldn't stop turning the pages about this likable, realistic and charming character.
Andrew is classic. He is a very believable high school guy. He's not the fattest kid in his schoo...more
This novel was so refreshing! I can't remember the last time I actually enjoyed a novel about an obese person trying to fit in, in High School. Usually with this type of story, I'm frustrated and cringing. But with FG&OTIVH (yeah I'm not going to type that out again!) I couldn't stop turning the pages about this likable, realistic and charming character.
Andrew is classic. He is a very believable high school guy. He's not the fattest kid in his schoo...more
3.5 stars.
I very much enjoyed Allen Zadoff's first young adult Novel. Having been overweight himself, the author has created a protagonist who felt very real, you believed what he said and you wanted to learn things about him.
I think the thing that really frustrated me about Andy was that he didn't like the way he looks, but he doesn't really have the want to change his lifestyle. He knows that he eats far too much, but like many overweight people, he eats to cope with the emotions and stress of...more
I very much enjoyed Allen Zadoff's first young adult Novel. Having been overweight himself, the author has created a protagonist who felt very real, you believed what he said and you wanted to learn things about him.
I think the thing that really frustrated me about Andy was that he didn't like the way he looks, but he doesn't really have the want to change his lifestyle. He knows that he eats far too much, but like many overweight people, he eats to cope with the emotions and stress of...more
I almost stopped after the first two lines in this story. I'm not a fan of books that open with, "My name is Andrew Zansky. I'm 15 years old and blah, blah, blah." I mean, isn't that the ultimate sin of telling?!
But I'm glad I kept reading because aside from the opening misstep, this book is really good. Written from the perspective of a 300 pound boy in high school, the story is full of laughs, pathos and unusually sympathetic characters. There are so many great one-liners that I just wanted to...more
But I'm glad I kept reading because aside from the opening misstep, this book is really good. Written from the perspective of a 300 pound boy in high school, the story is full of laughs, pathos and unusually sympathetic characters. There are so many great one-liners that I just wanted to...more
I dug this.
There were a few things that didn't ring true. At the start of the book, Eytan--the main character's best friend--comes off as the stereotypical horndog character. He sounds like a character and adult thinks teenagers sound like without sounding like a real teenager. Also, I'm pretty sure there would be larger consequences for some of Andy's actions, especially with the way football coaches are like drill sergeants.
But here's the thing--Allen Zadoff's writing is strong enough that I...more
There were a few things that didn't ring true. At the start of the book, Eytan--the main character's best friend--comes off as the stereotypical horndog character. He sounds like a character and adult thinks teenagers sound like without sounding like a real teenager. Also, I'm pretty sure there would be larger consequences for some of Andy's actions, especially with the way football coaches are like drill sergeants.
But here's the thing--Allen Zadoff's writing is strong enough that I...more
Andrew Zansky is having a tough time as he enters his sophomore year in high school. His parents are getting divorced; he can’t stop eating though he already weighs 306.4 pounds; his mother buys him jeans that have his waist size (48!) printed on the outside label; he met the love of his life at a wedding and will never see her again. But all is not lost. He does have his friend Eytan, a fellow geek who is on the model UN team (this year they get Estonia … a step up from last year), and together...more
Having read My Life, Theater, and Other Tragedies (or whatever the real title is), I came into this with a few expectations. I knew it'd be about a high school kid on the outs (in this case because Andy Zansky weighs 307 pounds unlike the AZ in Theater who was a tech geek), a dysfunctional family, and some kind of romance angle along with pretty fun dialogue. I got what I wanted.
In many ways, I feel this book is more mature than Theater due to the ending. In neither book are things suddenly reso...more
In many ways, I feel this book is more mature than Theater due to the ending. In neither book are things suddenly reso...more
Aug 17, 2012
Silver Billings
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Young Adults, middle-high school age
Shelves:
owned-books
When I first picked up this book it was at a sale, at the time I was very much into reading YA books about eating disorders and thought from the cover, title, and back summary, that this is what the book is about. Wrong. Andrew is an overweight high schooler who has a pretty average life, dysfunctional family that includes a younger sister border-lining anorexic, a catering mother that hides behind the food she makes, and an overworking father that doesn't give him the proper attention. He has o...more
A very Christian home-schooling mother once told me she thought high schools were "ungodly". And while I don't share that view, I do think it is a bit unnatural to have 100s of adolescents all together. When we were cave people we would have kept them with us, learning how to be adults and doing adult things, not herd them all together and leave them to create their own little clans.
I know few people enjoyed who High School, and I think books like this are a comfort to teens and adults who feel...more
I know few people enjoyed who High School, and I think books like this are a comfort to teens and adults who feel...more
Food , Girls,and Other Things I Cant Have journeys through Andrew being an obese boy ,who weighs 300 pounds, has an annoying,young,skinny sister. Andrew deals with being bullied moreover being really self- conscience about himself. Watching who is seeing him eat ,moreover his mom is a carterer whos specialty is baking mini food. Although there is alot of mischief occurring Andre does meet someone who really catches his eye. April is a Asian girl who Andrew meets during his mom's work. Andrew wo...more
This is a 2011-2012 Gateway Award nominee. Very humorous book about an overweight, honors student who gets teased often by the school bully, and through a series of events, ends up making the Varsity football team. A good book to encourage students to follow their passion and do things for the right reasons.
Review from Publishers Weekly:
Readers who wade through a series of painful scenes early on in Zadoff's debut YA novel are in for a treat. Andy Zansky is the (second) fattest kid in school and...more
Review from Publishers Weekly:
Readers who wade through a series of painful scenes early on in Zadoff's debut YA novel are in for a treat. Andy Zansky is the (second) fattest kid in school and...more
Finally got around to reading the last of the 20 Peach Books for 2011-2012 school year. I would give it a strong 3.5 because the main character is likable, flawed, and evolving--qualities we can all aspire to, right? So Andy's 48"-waist jeans show his number to all the world, and he can't imagine any future for himself at the start of sophomore year that would have his weight broadcast to the whole school in any positive way. But somehow, he find himself trying out for football, and making it. T...more
What Will Meeting the Perfect Girl Do for You?
By just the cover of this book, you will be sucked into the life of the main character, Andy. When I opened this book, and read the inside cover of it, I knew that I would be interested. The school that Andy attends, is sport crazy, and besides his love for eating, Andy’s other favorite thing to do is to avoid gym class.
Andy meets this girl, April, who he decides is his soul mate, and that they are made for each other. What happens when the one per...more
By just the cover of this book, you will be sucked into the life of the main character, Andy. When I opened this book, and read the inside cover of it, I knew that I would be interested. The school that Andy attends, is sport crazy, and besides his love for eating, Andy’s other favorite thing to do is to avoid gym class.
Andy meets this girl, April, who he decides is his soul mate, and that they are made for each other. What happens when the one per...more
Sometimes when I read "fat kid" stories, they kind of bug me. They tend to follow a pattern - fat kid hates him/herself, decides to make a change, then either ends up changing and feels great or accepts him/herself for who he/she is. And although there is definitely some of the "acceptance" theme here, it's done in a very cool way. Andy, the main character, doesn't really hate himself. Maybe he hates himself a little, but no more than the average teenager. He doesn't like the way he looks, but h...more
Andy Zansky is a sophomore in high school. He definitely is not one of the cool kids. He is in the Model UN, and he is pretty smart. He would like to stay out of sight when the bullies come along. Unfortunately, that is kind of hard to do because he weighs 306.4 pounds.
Andy's mom is a caterer, and Andy likes to help out when she needs it. At the end of the summer, he was doing just that when he met April, a girl he becomes quite enamored with. He figures he is never going to see her again, but s...more
Andy's mom is a caterer, and Andy likes to help out when she needs it. At the end of the summer, he was doing just that when he met April, a girl he becomes quite enamored with. He figures he is never going to see her again, but s...more
Andy is not the fattest kid in his high school - he's the second fattest. In a weird way, that's worse. It's like he isn't the best at anything - not even his weight. Andy gets picked on and doesn't really fit in any where until he is tapped to try out for the football team and ends up on the varsity squad. Now his sophmore year is about to take a major turn, but he can't figure out which direction to go.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Andy is such a great character. He doesn't like the way...more
I really enjoyed reading this book. Andy is such a great character. He doesn't like the way...more
Andy Zansky knows exactly how much he weighs: 307 pounds. He's almost the fattest kid in his class, but not quite, and even that failed achievement makes him feel like he doesn't measure up. When he's offered the chance to move out of his status as a nerd and join the football team, he takes it. I know almost nothing about football and am not a fan, but the descriptions of the practices and games, and how football made Andy feel like a new person, not just popular but powerful and accomplished,...more
Realistic fiction, adolescence, family and friend relationships, fatness, football
Great book that was humorous and fun to read. Andrew Zansky weights 306 pounds and has a difficult time sitting in the chairs at school. He considers himself a geek, hanging out with the science and literature nerds. His parents are divorced with a dad who doesn't have much time for him and a mother who tells him he is big boned.
One day Andrew is being beat up by the school bully when all of a sudden the high schoo...more
Great book that was humorous and fun to read. Andrew Zansky weights 306 pounds and has a difficult time sitting in the chairs at school. He considers himself a geek, hanging out with the science and literature nerds. His parents are divorced with a dad who doesn't have much time for him and a mother who tells him he is big boned.
One day Andrew is being beat up by the school bully when all of a sudden the high schoo...more
This book came with multiple promises--first, a good book about a fat main character, which is pretty hard to find, I guess. Not that I've been looking for it or anything. Second, it promised a humerous book. Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have is about a fat kid who decides he's tired of conforming and not doing what he should be able to just because he's fat. I won't say it fell flat in every way. It kept me entertained. Was it funny? Meh. It made me grin once or twice. Did it provide a...more
For the first 100 pages, this seemed like just another smart, funny fast read about a boy who struggles to fit in. High school sophomore Andy Zansky weighs 306.4 pounds. He’s an asthmatic MUN geek, so fat and awkward he’s demoted to slow gym. Even after he returns to the regular class, he knows his limits. “I just stand there on the field with an empty ten-foot-zone around me. It’s like the time I had gas in temple.”
So I laughed, and kept reading, as Andy started making a new name for himself o...more
So I laughed, and kept reading, as Andy started making a new name for himself o...more
Andrew Zansky has grown accustomed to being the person left out. Here he is, in his sophomore year, deeply in love with a beautiful Asian girl he met at one of the parties his mother caters -- and then shows up at his school. He had told her he was an athlete -- but of course that was a lie. His best friend is Etyan (I love the name) who is also an outsider but hangs close to Andrew. When Andrew goes out for Varsity Football and makes the team, he thinks he has all he wants. Maybe this will work...more
Genre: Fiction
Andrew Zansky is your typical sophomore in high school; he gets awkward around girls, he's trying to find his own identity, and he and his best friend have the occasional run-in with the school bully. Only Andrew does possess one particular quality that causes him to stand out amongst not only his peers, but the entire school; 307 pounds and his size 48 waistline.
"Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have" is author Allen Zadoff's first young adult novel. I didn't know what to exp...more
Andrew Zansky is your typical sophomore in high school; he gets awkward around girls, he's trying to find his own identity, and he and his best friend have the occasional run-in with the school bully. Only Andrew does possess one particular quality that causes him to stand out amongst not only his peers, but the entire school; 307 pounds and his size 48 waistline.
"Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have" is author Allen Zadoff's first young adult novel. I didn't know what to exp...more
Andrew disgusts me a lot at first. I can't stand a guy who thinks he loves a girl only because she's hot... For me, Andrew is superficial enough to like April---a bitch who steals her friend's boyfriend while manipulating Andrew to get what she wants. Ok, other than bad taste for girls, Andrew also has some moral issues going on such as despising classmates who are being real friendly to him for their unpopularity.
However, all of these start to change toward the end, when Andrew gradully reali...more
However, all of these start to change toward the end, when Andrew gradully reali...more
This book about a fat, nerdy kid who goes out for football and becomes Mr. Popularity for a hot second (slightly a la "Can't Buy Me Love) is an engaging read. What struck me was that the main female interest and another secondary character are both Asian girls. This was refreshing to some extent as I'm used to seeing Asian females (people in general) in the background or not at all which compelled me to read faster. However, I took offense to one girl being called "a stick with an accent" and th...more
I usually don't get into books that have humor, but this book was different. I found myself laughing out loud, and I really enjoyed the narrator's story. Andrew Zansky is 307 lbs (306.4 technically), and he doesn't feel he fits in his school, literally. From a teacher's point of view, this book was incredibly enlightening. I have many students who are overweight, and I feel like I understand them, but this book made me emotionally and physically walk in the shoes of an overweight teenager. When...more
I dug this.
There were a few things that didn't ring true. At the start of the book, Eytan--the main character's best friend--comes off as the stereotypical horndog character. He sounds like a character and adult thinks teenagers sound like without sounding like a real teenager. Also, I'm pretty sure there would be larger consequences for some of Andy's actions, especially with the way football coaches are like drill sergeants.
But here's the thing--Allen Zadoff's writing is strong enough that I...more
There were a few things that didn't ring true. At the start of the book, Eytan--the main character's best friend--comes off as the stereotypical horndog character. He sounds like a character and adult thinks teenagers sound like without sounding like a real teenager. Also, I'm pretty sure there would be larger consequences for some of Andy's actions, especially with the way football coaches are like drill sergeants.
But here's the thing--Allen Zadoff's writing is strong enough that I...more
The main characters in this book would have to be Andy, April, O, and Eytan. This book mostly took place at Andy's high school. Andy is a sophmore at his high school. He falls in love with this girl he meets at a wedding. The girl transfers to Andy's school. Her name is April. Andy wants to impress her beacuse he doesn't think she will like a guy like him. Andy is taken back back by his physical appearence. He decides to play football, so he can loose some weight. A senior named O helps him wit...more
Andrew Zansky is fat, geeky, and definitely NOT one of the in crowd. As he begins his sophomore year, he meets a girl and when the football coach asks him to play football, he agrees hoping to change his life. At first things seem to be going well -- the very popular quarterback befriends him, April is paying attention, and even the school bully is avoiding him. But he finds that his former friends want nothing to do with him and things are not really going as well as they seem.
This is a heartwa...more
This is a heartwa...more
Food, Girls, And Other Things I Can't Have
Allen Zadoff
Egmont USA
2009
Andrew is 307 lbs and he knows it. He dreads going to school and being judged, beaten up, and ignored by girls. But this year, Sophomore Year, will be different. He will make popular friends, join the football team, and get a girlfriend. It won't be easy. He risks alienating his friends, lying to his parents, and injuring himself. In the end, is it worth it?
This young adult novel is a realistic portrayal of what it is like to be...more
Allen Zadoff
Egmont USA
2009
Andrew is 307 lbs and he knows it. He dreads going to school and being judged, beaten up, and ignored by girls. But this year, Sophomore Year, will be different. He will make popular friends, join the football team, and get a girlfriend. It won't be easy. He risks alienating his friends, lying to his parents, and injuring himself. In the end, is it worth it?
This young adult novel is a realistic portrayal of what it is like to be...more
I liked it. I mean, what's not to like. Andy is going into high school as the second fattest kid in the school and ends up having a great year in many ways. I won't go into details and, of course, there are some ups and downs but I would classify it as more ups. But the only thing that I didn't like is that this doesn't happen to most kids. It's nice but it is fiction.
I saw Alen Zadoff speak and he said that he was writing from the heart because he was the fat kid in school and the football coa...more
I saw Alen Zadoff speak and he said that he was writing from the heart because he was the fat kid in school and the football coa...more
Not a bad little book. I actually had much the same experience as the character in this book. The difference being that I was press ganged into football in Junior High, and I stayed with it. I even ran a trick play where I carried the ball from the offensive guard spot. That, and I loved the game going in. And I stayed with it through the end of High School. I did, like the main character, decide to leave the game behind eventually, though.
Good: pretty accurate depiction of being a fat kid tryi...more
Good: pretty accurate depiction of being a fat kid tryi...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character Education | 2 | 4 | Oct 28, 2011 12:59pm |
Allen Zadoff is the author of three YA novels. His debut novel, Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award and was a YALSA selection for Most Popular Paperbacks of 2012. His second novel was My Life, the Theater, and Other Tragedies, the story of a techie hiding from life after a family tragedy. His most recent novel Since You Left Me is set in Los Angeles and te...more
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