Born Ugly

by Beth Goobie

Westchester 2011 Honorable Mention 2013 Saskatoon Book Young Adult Literature Award nominee To say Shir is unpopular is an understatement. In fact she's less than homely, therefore a target of casual cruelty in high school. Even though she wishes to remain invisible, bullies find ways of tormenting her, viciously. Worse still, she's an outcast in her own family. There are two areas where Shir can overcome her negative self-image. One is at her part-time job where the kindly Mr. A has hired her as the driver of his grocery delivery truck. The other is at her secret retreat - myplace - where she can sip her beer and watch the river, undisturbed. But neither sanctuary is safe; Shir discovers that Mr. A's kindness is part of a plot to use her as an accomplice in shady dealings, and her haven by the river is intruded upon by a boy who simply won't go away. While these invasions shatter her initially, both lead to her throwing off the mantle of victim and asserting herself for the first time in her life.

Genres: Young Adult, Teen, Contemporary, Canada

271 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Beth Goobie is best known for her quirky and dark young adult novels. She's published several of them, beginning in 1994. Her novel Before Wings won the Canadian Library Association's Young Adult Book Award in 2000, and was chosen by young readers for the Best Books list of the American Library Association.Much of the turmoil in Goobie's life has been laid bare in two books for adult readers, Scars of Light, which is autobiographical poetry, and The Only-Good Heart, a book of short stories. Both are built on the theme of cults, abuse, and emotional torture. They were, she says, both therapeutic for herself and a warning to others.

Reviews

[Mariam Ebadi]

Nowhere is safe. You dont know where to hide anymore. It seems as if the entire world has turned against you. The biggest problem is not something you have done..its you. This book is Born Ugly by Beth Goobie. The genre that this book falls under is drama. I really enjoyed reading this book because through all the highs and lows it still keeps you curious. The book starts slow and then moves into fast pace. Each page has you so engaged. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It truly gives you a different perspective and changes your thoughts on not only how you look upon yourself but along with others. Shir, the main character hates her life, everywhere she goes she feels so uncomfortable and belittled. If I were her I would most definitely never let others opinions define who I am. As much as Shir wants to deny it, she lets other people tell her who she is. Its as if she doesn't live for herself, yet she lives for others. Throughout the book, Shir certainly tries to shut out the world, but at one point it completely takes her over. She feels so hopeless. I like that towards the end Shir catches herself and starts believing that everything will be okay. Others opinions on her surely does not make up who she is. I think if Shir had this outlook from the very beginning, it would have saved her so much trouble and relief.
This book is relevant to my life because it teaches me to not judge anyone for everyone has their own battles. It also directs me into positive thoughts, I should always be happy with who I am because I am beautiful in many ways. I feel like this book also changed my attitude towards myself and the people around me being that I don't really know how much my words may affect someone. Born Ugly is also important to my life because I now know what some people go through and how their reactions affect their lives. This book has taught me to not take things so personally, some people have their own opinions so let them have their opinions. Why be mad at yourself for something you can't even control? You should always have enough confidence within yourself to be able to see your own inner beauty and everyone elses as well. Shir was the type of person who wanted to stand up for herself but there was always that one person that would say something to her which would make her fall, crashing down. Towards the end of the book when Shir begins to not value peoples opinions as much, that is when her world truly starts changing.
A golden line from this book for me is, “and the shattered world began to piece itself together again.” This line means so much to me, it has so much depth and meaning to it. Shir never thought her life would ever turn out to be okay due to the high levels of negativity that surrounded her. One day she got up and took action, she didn't believe what others would say nor would she let others opinions phase her. I believe this was the best decision Shir had made thus far. Her life changed instantly with the positive thoughts that then started to shape her life out for the better. One person throughout this entire book that also made Shir believe that everything was going to be okay was her closest friend, Finlay. I believe Finlay led Shir into believing that everything was going to be okay and that she didn't always need to be the person that met up to everyone's expectations. Born Ugly is a must read. It adjusts the approach you have on people and what you say around them. Born Ugly makes you realize that above all types of love, self love is absolutely the most valuable.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shir is constantly harassed by her classmates for being "ugly" and she has no friends to turn to. Her family live isn't much better as her mother openly hates her and threatens to kick her out all the time. Her sister is popular and pretty, which automatically makes her a part of the group that torments Shir. About the only thing that makes her happy besides her secret peaceful place is her job at the local grocer's. However, when she starts to suspect that something could be wrong with the string of deliveries that she's making, events start to get out of hand. Personally, I found this book to be a little too predictable and cheesy toward the end. There was also a lot going on in terms of plot. This could be a good novel for kids who feel like they are outcasts and who want someone to relate to, but this theme gets buried by the plot and it doesn't really feel like it has a believable ending.

[Janell · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was alright.
I don’t think I’ll be looking into any of Beth’s other writings anytime soon.
Basically the first half of the book is so boring.. all you read is day in and day out of Shir going to school, getting bullied, isn’t welcomed at home, her mom hates her, buys beer illegally and gets shit faced all the time. BORIIIING.

But all of sudden at her boring grocery store job, Shir uncovers a drug dealing ring? And they put a gun on her and come to her school to do a school shooting?

Didn’t expect that, but it was a not good twist.
I honestly was expecting this to be a love story at the end..

Just not worth in my opinion.

[Amanda Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, I was drawn in from the start and compelled to see how this girl’s life would play out. It’s so harrowing in places that it’s almost a little too far fetched but so well written that I didn’t feel it crossed that line.

Be sure to read the author’s questions and answers at the end which explains where the idea came from.

[Winney Thach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book during my bullied-middle school kid days, and it gave me comfort but also allowed me to be exposed to topics such as drugs, drinking, etc. so I was more aware of them - honestly, even as a 22 year old I still think about this book now.

[Alyson Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this book when I was younger and I couldn't get myself to put it down. I loved how realistic it was to the main characters thoughts and emotions and I think it was a great story for young kids who feel insecure about they way they look.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another library withdrawn book that I took away on holiday. I thought it was extremely well written and will likely motivate me to read more by this author.

[Jinx · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad tale about a girl, being harrased in her life. I loved how she bonded with FIngley and her sister. Her sister wasn't the best charecter I admit but at the end her sister pulled through and became a sister that the main girl could look up to her.
I didn't understand why the mom was so curupted, sure her father was 'drunk as a stone' but she had to understand the girl.
It was sad to read the tormenting ways as she is titled 'dog-face', mocked by her school mates--like Wade and Garenett. Trragic how she won the conest (not goint to spoil which contest) and it was terrible at how many times her mom threatened to kick her out. 9especially when she was nine)
I think the authour did a splendid job in writing it, and she realated pretty well to the story since the book interveiw explained how her life expiernce in the book.
No one deserves to feel that kind of pain and have to ignore it with a drink.
I like the sub-plot in the story about the 'deliveries' and how it helped her in the end.
The reason why its not a five star is because I feltthe story could have expanded more on people's world. I wanted to know more about Fingley, Wyad, everyone and her veiws at them. Being an outsider, she has to peer out sometimes and just watch,right?

[Ruju · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book didn't start out that great, to be honest. For about the first 4 chapters, I was a tad bored but I thought I would give the book a shot. It started getting more eventful and made me feel more which suddenly made it much better. Overall, I think this was relatable, although I definitely questioned a lot of the protagonist's decisions. I didn't actually like the protagonist, but I could empathize with her and sympathize for her. I didn't much like any of the characters in this book except for Mrs. Duran and Finlay. However, I was able to feel the raw emotions that were so well displayed, especially in the second half of the book and a lot of it, I could relate to as well. So not for the characters themselves, but for the story and the way it made me think and feel, I liked this book.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book from a YA author. Even though her subjects are always tough I enjoy trying to guess where they are set and look for the familiar landmarks. It's wonderful to see that someone I went to high school with has done so well in the literary world. If you have never read any of her books pick one up. The interview with Beth at the end of the book is particularly good but disturbing. So much went on in her life that we did not realize.

[PrairieReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this book. I didn't like any of the characters and found all of them unsympathetic. I didn't care for the writing style (the terms the author used for beer annoyed me) and I found it sad that there was no adult in this child's life that was trustworthy. The author is brave to deal with these issues in such a straightforward way, I just couldn't get into the book at all.

[Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very emotional book. It is kind of slow and the plot is hard to pick out but I couldn't put it down, I suppose it keeps you hooked trying to find out what the book is actually about. Warning: it will take you on an emotional roller coaster, but it will have a good ending that even makes someone who feels worthless like me feel inspired, hopeful, and best of all, not useless. Highly recommended.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so hard to read, the things those bullies did to her had me in tears. But the writing was amazing and had me feeling what Sher was feeling.

[Emily Benoit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concept/Ideas: 4/5
Storyline/Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Writing Style: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I simply didn't enjoy reading this book.

[Marissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, the book had some substance & was Candindain . however, the author took it out of reality.

[Brandee Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a big fan of this book - it was slow and I don't like characters who have such negative ideas of themselves.