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Jun 05, 2011

Gina rated it:

Nice idea but my motivation for reading was basically to see what the scandal was. After the big reveal, the novel devolved into a chronology of events - this happened, then this happened, then we did this and this and this - and it became so obvious that the author hadn't thought this through. Also I'm tired of these sarcastic teenage narrators. I feel like every time a first person narrator is slightly out of the ordinary, they have to make up for it with quips and sarcasm. It gets old, especi More...

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Feb 18, 2012

Kelsey rated it:

It was great to read this right after finishing Helen Schulman's "This Beautiful Life." Similar theme but this novel appealed to me so much more. Partly because I just loved Jane, who narrates this story in such a real voice that you can't help but like her and relate to her, but also cringe and want her to shut up at times. I felt like I was reliving my teenage years without glossing over all of the hideous parts that I've tried so hard to forget. Just imagine how it would be if y More...

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Jan 22, 2012

Jane rated it:

At one point in Big Girl Small, protagonist Judy wonders whether it is worse to have someone love you because you are different or if it is worse to have someone love you in spite of that.

I think that summarizes Judy's central struggle throughout the book. As a sixteen-year-old dwarf, Judy gets treated differently by others because of who she is. While she's generally a smart and well-adjusted young woman, Judy naturally at times longs for lanky limbs and a normal life. She wants to b More...

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Jan 16, 2012

Marnie rated it:

It's hard not to fall in love with the narrator of Big Girl Small. It's not so much that she's smart or articulate. Sure, there's that. It's more that she has a perspective on the world around her, and it's not always consistent. And, I always think that's what makes a narrator (or a person) worth loving. Because you can see them learning. Trying to pull in the various things they think so that they have a view of the world, a view that become more and more complete and well-rounded.

More...

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Aug 01, 2011

Doreen rated it:

Reading this book, I kept forgetting that the protagonist was only 3 feet nine inches tall. Judy is hiding out in a motel, surviving on can after can of Spaghettios, afraid to face her family or friends after some horrendously embarrassing event. It takes most of the book for us to find out what that event was -- but in the meantime we get to know Judy, a character worth knowing. In spite of her recent flight to a hideout, we discover that she is brave, strong, smart, has a great sense of humor, More...

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Jul 04, 2011

Joanne rated it:

Really 1.5 stars.

At times, the writing was so bad, I wondered how this could've gotten published without some serious revision. I get that the author was going for a conversational tone, as in Catcher, but close reading of Holden's angsty words reveal so much depth that I can teach that book over and over and learn something new every time.

Judy is no Holden. Her voice is interesting at first but then becomes repetitive. How many times do we have to hear that she considers her More...

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Jun 26, 2011

Kate rated it:

OK, so the narrator is a whip-smart, hyper-articulate, above-it-all (but so NOT) teen girl who has lots going for her, including a supportive family, awesome, dedicated teachers who see her amazing potential and love her for it, plus a couple trustworthy friends...yet she'd be willing to risk damaging all that if it could mean a shot at grabbing the brass ring that is high school popularity. Original, right? No?
You're right; it isn't original at all. But somehow, the author provides a More...

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Jun 04, 2011

Marie rated it:

I pretty much hated this book. Judy is a 16-year-old little person transitioning to a private arts high school. She's smart and talented, and she says she confident, so why does she make such tragically awful choices?

Aside from not liking Judy AT ALL, I really hate books that feel obligated to describe what someone is wearing when it really makes no difference whatsoever. "I was wearing red tights, a denim skirt and a soft sweater." Who cares? Is Judy really into what More...

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Jul 05, 2011

Kim rated it:

This book tells the story of a girl named Judy who is a Little Person attending a performing arts high school. She does pretty well fitting in with everyone until a humiliating scandal leads her to run away to a hotel from where she is telling her story. I had high hopes for this book after hearing a good review on NPR, but a lot of things fell flat for me. First, the scandal was very predictable. I think I guessed on page one what was going to happen to Judy, so it didn't even feel shocking More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 10, 2011

meeners rated it:

slow going at first but really came together in the end. part of the initial problem for me came from the author's decision to write in Teen-Speak (tm) for the great bulk of the novel: so many "it was, like..." and "i mean, just..." and "kind of, you know..." sentences cluttering up the place, like dirty candy wrappers strewn all over a room. i felt this was a disservice to readers, especially teen ones; relying on such generic stylistic crutches means you end up wr More...

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Aug 16, 2011

MJ rated it:

The super smart and very talented 16 year old, Judy Lohden is hiding from the national media at a seedy motel on the outskirts of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her story unfolds as she explains it to Bill, a kind, if troubled fellow inhabitant of the motel. Judy had decided to apply and was accepted to the prestigious Darcy Arts Academy for her final two years in high school. A gifted writer with a singing voice that can rock the auditorium, Judy should be a star at D. Arts and the early weeks of her More...

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Jun 09, 2011

Kate rated it:

(this book is really more like 3 1/2 stars for me)

I selected this book for Challenge #1 in the group "You'll Love This One ... A Book Club and More ..." The challenge was to choose a book entirely by its cover. This book came across my NPR newsfeed and the cover immediately jumped out at me. It reminded me of the (original) Wally Lamb book "She's Come Undone"

. It also reminded me of the book

. Apparently I have a "thing" for blue covers.

More...

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Aug 19, 2011

Leah rated it:

Big Girl Small is a book that is impossible not to like. Judy is a 16 year old with a huge voice, but she is only 3 feet nine inches tall. As a dwarf she makes the brave decision to transfer (at 16) from her safe high school to a performing arts high school. What follows is 6 months in the life of Judy, an amazingly funny, sardonic, heartbreaking, and vulnerable teenager. Amazingly she lives as normally as possible the anecdotes in the book are amazing, funny, sad, and triumphant. This book let More...

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Jun 29, 2011

Robin rated it:

On some level I must have liked this book since I did finish it. However I felt like I was reading a Lifetime movie about teenage sex, drugs, and videotape with art school and LPs used to make it "unique." I want to file this under "young adult", however the author's references and metaphors were not representative of YAs or a teenage (albeit intelligent) speaker (e.g., frappes, Catholic high school skirts -or women in them- as sex objects). Plus, the binder blurb about " More...

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Jun 11, 2011

Carolyn rated it:

It is rare to read a book that feels so powerfully moving and real, particularly when the main character has a medical condition (achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism) so removed from the average person’s experience. Reading Big Girl Small, however, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the main character, Judy, is a little person. Her dominant concerns are the same as other teen girls’ concerns: an annoying sibling, making friends at her new school, being in a relationship/having sex for the first More...

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Sep 21, 2011

Becky rated it:

I truly cannot resist books about high school. Even if their writing is nothing special (as here) I get so sucked into teenage girls' high school drama. Nostalgia perhaps? This one has the added interest of a protagonist who's a dwarf/little person. It's a good metaphor for the alienation/out-of-place-ness that so many high schoolers feel. Good, juicy coming of age stuff.

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Jun 14, 2011

Alicia rated it:

I seem to gravitate to novels in which the main character(s) has a physical deformity of some kind: *A Prayer for Owen Meany* (very short stature, odd voice); *Stones From the River* (dwarf); *The Girls* (conjoined twins); and now *Big Girl Small* (Little Person). Maybe it's because these characters have been developed with such skill, and with such depth, and each have been portrayed with such unique perspectives on life. In *Big Girl Small*, Judy Lohden is a teenage Little Person who has the t More...

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Nov 03, 2010

Elaine rated it:

I didn't like it at all. The idea was great, the development not so much.

In terms of narrative tone, it's like reading "Catcher in the Rye" all over again - which is a pain for anyone past their teenage-angst years. The main character, Judy, complains too much, believes in an nonexistant self-importance and hates the world for what she is.

There's no plot, per se. It's like 'listening' to a teenanger talking 100mph non-stop about bits and pieces. When you think she's More...

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Jul 01, 2011

Heather rated it:

I would highly recommend this book. Although it was tense at times I thought the author nailed the voice of Judy. I couldn't put this book down!!

Some of my favorite quotes:

"No one said anything mean, even after he jogged away with his shorts riding up so high he looked like he was naked. Maybe simply because it would have been too easy. And all I can say about that morning is - how did we three know instinctively where the lines are between being funny and being bru More...

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Jul 12, 2011

Cassandra rated it:

I was searching for a new book on the internets, and stumbled upon this one recommended (I think) by NPR. A teen agnst tale of high school woes. Considering my 20th year HS Reunion is next month (WHAT!), I decided to read the book to put me in the right frame of mind. I think I read about 15 separate reviews of this book, and not in one of them did anyone mention that the lead protagonist was a "little person". I know we live in a PC world and all, but seriously? It was like - is More...

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Jan 31, 2012

Toni rated it:

This was reviewed in School Library Journal as an adult book that would appeal to high school students and it is just that. The very first page talks about raunchy dwarves fucking, so it is not for the faint of hear.

Judy is a small person who is 16 years old. Right away we found out that something really bad has happened to her. Judy has a lot of personality in the three-foot tall body. I loved her voice as well as imagining what life is like when the world (like grocery shelves) More...

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Feb 07, 2012

Julie rated it:

This one is for older teens. An important look into life as a teen and a "Little Person" but also sad and intense. The story takes place in Ann Arbor and DeWoskin clearly knows Ann Arbor very well - other than the diner her parents own and the school she attends all locations she references are real, and accurately portrayed. The story is told with an authentic voice that floats back and forth between a horrible life-changing incident that is foreshadowed, with the details doled out More...

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May 29, 2011

Mrs. rated it:

Judy has always stood out: she's got a gorgeous voice, serious acting chops, and a less-than-average height; Judy is a little person. She's always been reasonably comfortable with herself - her parents raised her to be confident. So Judy doesn't think high school - at a prestigious performing arts school - will be too difficult. But things go horribly - and publicly - wrong in a way she could never have imagined when some students take advantage of her naiveté and vulnerability. Judy is defeated More...

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Jun 11, 2011

Allison rated it:

Judy Lohden is one of my favorite new characters. Her voice is at times witty, at times self pitying but always relatable and charming. It was fascinating to hear her story and to gain the perspective of a 17 year old with all the baggage that teen angst brings in addition to Judy's perspective as a little person. What happens to her and how both she and her family and friends deal with it is believable and heartening and I enjoyed following her through this journey.

I really enjoyed More...

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Jul 23, 2011

Joanie rated it:

"So can someone please give me an example of something that isn't "ongoing?" Is there something in this life that's ever clearly, unequivocally finished? And is it just because I'm young that I have to ask that? I mean, here's a horrible possibility: even death can't exactly finish us."

Judy Lohden is sixteen years old, three feet nine, and has got the smarts and a stunning voice to land her a spot at Darcy Academy, a prestigious performing arts high school. It's a More...

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Oct 23, 2011

Kathy rated it:

Judy Lohden,a teenager who is also a 3' 9" dwarf, is thrilled when she is accepted into Darcy Arts, an elite private performing arts high school. With her outstanding voice, she hopes to become a part of the popular crowd. However, the only true friends she makes are Goth Sarah and Molly. When Judy develops a crush on Kyle Malanack, a handsome, but troubled, member of the school's most popular crowd, things spiral out of control.

The book's strength lies in its characters. Judy can More...

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Aug 15, 2011

Marquina rated it:

I chose this book only by glancing out the cover, deciding it would be 'uplifting' based on the cover art, and purchased immediately. My haste was attributed to the fact that my husband's father had had a seizure and we would be traveling on Metro North to CT to sit and to be with the family for a while. The book happened to be about my hometown in Ann Arbor, MI and starts out with the protagonist in a hotel in Ypsi hiding from some unnamed terror. As we learn more about the character and what h More...

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Jan 27, 2012

Writer's Relief rated it:

This novel reads like a typical YA, first-person perspective, female-protagonist-trying-to-survive-high-school narrative, except with one very important twist: sixteen-year-old Judy Lohden is 3’9’’ tall.

The greatest feat of this novel is that Dewoskin successfully tells a very uncomfortable story (high school kids take advantage of a Little Person) in a way that is respectful, readable, and intimate without being cringe-worthy. Dewoskin masters the first-person voice of a girl who is More...

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Jun 16, 2011

Ellen rated it:

Judy is a little person and a very talented singer. Although she is comfortable in her school, she has recently been accepted at the local school for performing arts where she has found success, admiration and friends. Yet, she is telling the story from a hotel room where she is hiding after an event that has left her shaken, angry and embarrassed. Teen angst and drama doesn't get more real in this coming of age story as Judy struggles with her identity and learns who her real friends are. Altho More...

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Jun 15, 2011

Tracyj rated it:

I read a lot of the criticism of this book and I guess it's just a matter of taste. I was totally sucked in by this story and the author's voice. I found this book utterly readable and while I could pretty much figure out what happened, I had to read it to get all the details. You know that something terrible has happened to Judy, but you don't know what. The author drops enough hints that the reader can figure it out, but you still need to hear it from Judy. I agree the ending kind of fell flat More...

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