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Fat Glenda #2
Hey, Remember Fat Glenda?
Glenda's resolve to lose weight is complicated by her mother who won't practice the eating habits she preaches, conflicts with classmates, and a crush on her English teacher.
168 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 4, 2009
I know it's totally lame that I actually spent a couple hours of my (adult) life reading this book. I had read it as a kid, and the other day I came across it at the library and just had to revisit it. It's not bad and surprisingly holds up pretty well (it was published in the early 80s). The depiction of the delicate sensibilities and ephemeral friendships of middle school girls seemed spot-on, and everyone can sympathize with having a huge crush on a teacher.
December 6, 2015
Holy.
Fucking.
Shit.
What did I just read?
Well, technically, it was a middle school/young adult novel titled "hey, remember fat glenda"
I think it should be renamed. How about "men will only like you if you're skinny & pretty."
Seriously, folks. It's the basic message of the story. Yep. Men only want "hot" skinny women & you have to lose weight to make friends.
And this is a story marketed to young girls? I vaguely remembered reading/enjoying this in my preteen years, so when I found it on my sister's shelf, I thought I'd revisit it.
Worst mistake ever!
This is absolutely disgusting. Fully and truly. This is the exact wrong message to be selling to girls. Especially ones who might struggle with weight issues & low self esteem.
1st off, let me point out that that the whol thing wasn't terrible. The writing & interactions of the girls was spot on. Just the kind of shit I remember from my middle school years. Bitchy girls & everyone over the top boy crazy.
But at is where anything remotely good ends. Everything else, to the message, to the main character, to mr. Heartly is beyond revolting. If it weren't for my love of books in general, I'd toss this in the fireplace as kindling. Now! Let's look at the things that pissed me off, shall we?
Warning! Spoilers! (But since it's clearly an unpopular book & I find it so terrible, I don't feel the least bad about ruining anything.)
1. Glenda. Our Main character & narrator. The one I'm supposed to give a fuck about. The one I am supposed to cheer on. Wel, I didn't. Frankly, I wanted to push her right in front of a bus. I know, I know, that's terrible, but it's true. The whole fucking book she whines about how fat she is & harshly judges her mother and a classmate named Robert. I can understand her being self conscious, but the way she treats them is just nasty. Her mom is struggling & she insults her. Robert is nothing but kind to her & she acts like he's this disgusting inconveniencing bother. I mean, this is a girl bitching and moaning about how rotten over weight people are treated. But apparently this social injustice only applies to Glenda, since she goes and does the exact same thing to him. Robert is sweet & genuinely seems to like her, sharing her liking of poetry. I mean, he'll, they chose the same type of love poem. Both saying nice things about not loving someone for looks, but for who they are. -_- I guess Glenda didn't really understand. Here's a wonderfully horrible quote from her: "I hadn't lost all that weight to get asked out on my very 1st date by the fattest boy in the entire school!" -page 134. I... I can't even! This Is why I hate teen girls! This is so cruel! She won't even take in to consideration how sweet & smart he is. The only thing that matters when going out is how attractive your date is. Also, along with being a judgmental asshole, she's a hypocrite. Glenda & her friends Mary Lou & patty sit around talking smack about their classmate cathanne because she's "boy crazy". Yet Glenda spends the whole book obsessing over her English teacher. Bitch.
2. Unhealthy weight loss methods. The book talks a lot about how little Glenda eats. Just tomatoes, lemons, water, plain yogurt & raw vegetables. This In young teenager. She's fucking starving herself on a shit diet with VERY little proteins & calcium. She's a growing girl & no body notices how unhealthy & unsafe this is? In fact, several times, she's praised for her "will power" to not eat.... Well, anything. God forbid someone take her to a doctor to discuss PROPER diet.
3. Message. Like I said earlier, this is disgusting. She doesn't want to lose weight because it's healthy. It's not for her own happiness or health. She only wants to lose weight because she wants people's to like her & so her teacher will notice her. -_- ok, I'll ignore the disgustingness of that teacher but for now, & just focus on the genre "ewness" you shouldn't try and be healthy just for yourself. So YOU are healthy & feel good about yourself. The only reason one should do that is to get attention from men & the approval of your peers. Men will only want you if your thin. You have to starve yourself & follow men, blindly obeying any stupid requests they make. >:( & even in the end when she finally realized he didn't return her creepy obsessive puppy love feelings, I don't feel like a lesson was really learned. She mentions in a letter to her pen pal that she'll learn to like herself, but I didn't feel it. Mainly because she goes on about how now she has no motivation. Attention from men was Glenda's motivation for weight loss & now that she has none, she has to settle? I'm confused & disgusted &.... I want to slap this author.
4. Obsessive behavior. It's not puppy love. Its obsession & it's disturbing. & even when several people call her out on it, she still refuses to acknowledge until she sees him paying Attention to another girl. Ew.
5. mr. Hartley. Creep meter is broken by how much this guy freaked me out. Making this kid run around like a slave because he knows shes into him. It's painfully obvious he's using her throughout the book. It's agony to watch. I just want to slap her. Get a clue! She barely even notices when the janitor asked why the teacher isn't doing the teachers job. I wondered to. He's manipulating this poor girl! Really, people. He's gross. Plus, Mr. Haretly is very unprofessional. It's creepy the way he treats these kids, like he's hitting on her & cathanne, but not an overly obvious way, he might get called out on. That is, until the Halloween party. Cathanne (the girl must have a shit home life if she thinks its ok to kiss a teacher..) kisses him. & he doesn't scold her. He thinks it's cute! Then kisses Mary Lou & Glenda. Can you say sexual harassment! This is a sick way for a teacher to act with his students. & with all the witness, including Roberts parents.... Why did no one call these girls parents, or the school? Because he's handsome? Is hat he lesson? That if your hot you can get away with inappropriate behavior with 13 year old girls!?!? Is it because this was written in the 80s? We're things that different? I.... I can't even!
This whole book was awful. Zero stars. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
Fucking.
Shit.
What did I just read?
Well, technically, it was a middle school/young adult novel titled "hey, remember fat glenda"
I think it should be renamed. How about "men will only like you if you're skinny & pretty."
Seriously, folks. It's the basic message of the story. Yep. Men only want "hot" skinny women & you have to lose weight to make friends.
And this is a story marketed to young girls? I vaguely remembered reading/enjoying this in my preteen years, so when I found it on my sister's shelf, I thought I'd revisit it.
Worst mistake ever!
This is absolutely disgusting. Fully and truly. This is the exact wrong message to be selling to girls. Especially ones who might struggle with weight issues & low self esteem.
1st off, let me point out that that the whol thing wasn't terrible. The writing & interactions of the girls was spot on. Just the kind of shit I remember from my middle school years. Bitchy girls & everyone over the top boy crazy.
But at is where anything remotely good ends. Everything else, to the message, to the main character, to mr. Heartly is beyond revolting. If it weren't for my love of books in general, I'd toss this in the fireplace as kindling. Now! Let's look at the things that pissed me off, shall we?
Warning! Spoilers! (But since it's clearly an unpopular book & I find it so terrible, I don't feel the least bad about ruining anything.)
1. Glenda. Our Main character & narrator. The one I'm supposed to give a fuck about. The one I am supposed to cheer on. Wel, I didn't. Frankly, I wanted to push her right in front of a bus. I know, I know, that's terrible, but it's true. The whole fucking book she whines about how fat she is & harshly judges her mother and a classmate named Robert. I can understand her being self conscious, but the way she treats them is just nasty. Her mom is struggling & she insults her. Robert is nothing but kind to her & she acts like he's this disgusting inconveniencing bother. I mean, this is a girl bitching and moaning about how rotten over weight people are treated. But apparently this social injustice only applies to Glenda, since she goes and does the exact same thing to him. Robert is sweet & genuinely seems to like her, sharing her liking of poetry. I mean, he'll, they chose the same type of love poem. Both saying nice things about not loving someone for looks, but for who they are. -_- I guess Glenda didn't really understand. Here's a wonderfully horrible quote from her: "I hadn't lost all that weight to get asked out on my very 1st date by the fattest boy in the entire school!" -page 134. I... I can't even! This Is why I hate teen girls! This is so cruel! She won't even take in to consideration how sweet & smart he is. The only thing that matters when going out is how attractive your date is. Also, along with being a judgmental asshole, she's a hypocrite. Glenda & her friends Mary Lou & patty sit around talking smack about their classmate cathanne because she's "boy crazy". Yet Glenda spends the whole book obsessing over her English teacher. Bitch.
2. Unhealthy weight loss methods. The book talks a lot about how little Glenda eats. Just tomatoes, lemons, water, plain yogurt & raw vegetables. This In young teenager. She's fucking starving herself on a shit diet with VERY little proteins & calcium. She's a growing girl & no body notices how unhealthy & unsafe this is? In fact, several times, she's praised for her "will power" to not eat.... Well, anything. God forbid someone take her to a doctor to discuss PROPER diet.
3. Message. Like I said earlier, this is disgusting. She doesn't want to lose weight because it's healthy. It's not for her own happiness or health. She only wants to lose weight because she wants people's to like her & so her teacher will notice her. -_- ok, I'll ignore the disgustingness of that teacher but for now, & just focus on the genre "ewness" you shouldn't try and be healthy just for yourself. So YOU are healthy & feel good about yourself. The only reason one should do that is to get attention from men & the approval of your peers. Men will only want you if your thin. You have to starve yourself & follow men, blindly obeying any stupid requests they make. >:( & even in the end when she finally realized he didn't return her creepy obsessive puppy love feelings, I don't feel like a lesson was really learned. She mentions in a letter to her pen pal that she'll learn to like herself, but I didn't feel it. Mainly because she goes on about how now she has no motivation. Attention from men was Glenda's motivation for weight loss & now that she has none, she has to settle? I'm confused & disgusted &.... I want to slap this author.
4. Obsessive behavior. It's not puppy love. Its obsession & it's disturbing. & even when several people call her out on it, she still refuses to acknowledge until she sees him paying Attention to another girl. Ew.
5. mr. Hartley. Creep meter is broken by how much this guy freaked me out. Making this kid run around like a slave because he knows shes into him. It's painfully obvious he's using her throughout the book. It's agony to watch. I just want to slap her. Get a clue! She barely even notices when the janitor asked why the teacher isn't doing the teachers job. I wondered to. He's manipulating this poor girl! Really, people. He's gross. Plus, Mr. Haretly is very unprofessional. It's creepy the way he treats these kids, like he's hitting on her & cathanne, but not an overly obvious way, he might get called out on. That is, until the Halloween party. Cathanne (the girl must have a shit home life if she thinks its ok to kiss a teacher..) kisses him. & he doesn't scold her. He thinks it's cute! Then kisses Mary Lou & Glenda. Can you say sexual harassment! This is a sick way for a teacher to act with his students. & with all the witness, including Roberts parents.... Why did no one call these girls parents, or the school? Because he's handsome? Is hat he lesson? That if your hot you can get away with inappropriate behavior with 13 year old girls!?!? Is it because this was written in the 80s? We're things that different? I.... I can't even!
This whole book was awful. Zero stars. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
February 14, 2016
All I can say about this is that Glenda sucks. She boohoos over people calling her fat and being mean, when she does the exact same thing to herself and to others.
December 22, 2010
I loved this book. I read it so many years ago, in the early 80's. It was one of my favorites when I was a teen.
Read
January 4, 2017The male teacher and how he treated and allowed the girls to fawn over him was gross. It really puts a damper on the story. There had to have been another way to write this...
July 9, 2020
13 year old me loved this; 48 year old me is horrified. I think that pretty much says it all. It was probably fine in the 80s (well, for the time period) but not all books age well.
June 18, 2020
I read this as a pre-teen and enjoyed it and so made the mistake of revisiting it as an adult. Hoo boy. The writing is SO bad. The dialogue was so cheesy and painful. What eighth grader do you know that says things like "who is this exquisite creature"? And the fatphobia, gross, although of course I kind of knew that was coming from the title of the book. The teacher kissing the students on the mouth -- yikes! This book was pretty much dreadful in every conceivable way. hahaha It's so bad I don't even want to donate it to Goodwill or list it on paperbackswap.
January 16, 2019
This was written in the early 1980's. It accurately defines the expectations of society and the views held during that time period. In all honesty, not much has changed. Girls obsess over women like Kim Kardashian and her only talent is buying plastic surgery. The pressure on being skinny and perfect is still prevalent.
This is a great book, but on the flip side, it did teach me how to vomit up my food when I was a teenager. It's almost a how to guide for bulimia.
This is a great book, but on the flip side, it did teach me how to vomit up my food when I was a teenager. It's almost a how to guide for bulimia.
August 17, 2024
This was a fun re- read from my childhood, a book on the metamorphosis of a teen girl. I remember relating to the story as a teen, obviously not so much as an adult but sure did bring back some fine memories!
January 10, 2024
Terrific follow up!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews