My big nose and other Natural Disasters- Book Review

This week is going to be a little different, since this is after all my English blog I guess I should probably have some, well, Englishish writing. So here it goes!

There I was just kind of looking around for something to read, when bam, there’s a giant Barbie! Due to the fact that it has a cool cover I picked it up, and that is the reason why you will now be reading my review on it.

My Big Nose and Other Natural Disaster is one of those books that I normally wouldn’t go for, it has a protagonist that has some serious self-esteem issues, makes stupid mistakes that are pretty predictable, and also has major boy problems. Even after all of that I still managed to find some things that I loved about it. Sydney Salter did great with letting the reader know what was going on inside the characters head, the dialogue sounded like something a teenager would actually say, and there was just the right amount of snarky and sarcastic remarks that made my roll around laughing. What else made this book great, you may ask? Well that would be the theme, there was so much of it throughout the book that it was nearly impossible to miss, and impossible not to love.

Jory Michaels is just an average, ordinary girl, who doesn’t think she fits in anywhere. Once summer comes along she has a plan to change everything, from her social problems, boy problems, self-esteem problems, and yes, even more boy problems. In order for her problems to be “solved” she has to get rid of her gigantic nose. In an effort to finance her nose job she gets a job, at a nice little cake shop, delivering cakes, and flowers. This is not the best plan because the only car she every really owned, she ended up totaling. This as a result of being distracted by what she thought was the boy she has a crush on, Tyler Briggs. All Jory can ever think about is BOYS. I swear it’s like she’s under the influence all the time! She can hardly ever think clearly, which is why she made some really dumb mistakes with boys she shouldn’t have been with in the first place. After that it may sound like I hate Jory, but I found so much to love about this book that it cancels out what I just typed.

Sydney Salter did a great job expressing what the character thought with her wording. Her writing didn’t sound stiff; it just flowed, and sounded real. When Jory was having mental break downs, she somehow managed to turn it around and make me laugh because it’s something I would probably say. “As I sat on the ground with my head in my hands, my mood darkened like Mississippi mud cake… I looked up at a wire fairy floating on a tree branch. Maybe an evil fairy had cursed me at birth as I lay in my crib, putting an ugly spell on me to ensure I would never find my Prince Charming… I looked straight ahead at a plump ceramic fairy with a mischievous grin sitting under a flowery shrub. She was the one who’d cursed me,” thought Jory while wallowing in her sad memories of a college party. There weren’t just funny moments when she felt like crap about herself, but even once she was happy about who she is.  After a soccer game she tried to flirt with a guy, but it kind of backfired, “‘Very funny,’” Luke said, “’Kick it right here.’ He pointed to the ground right in front of him. I pulled my leg way back. Connection! The ball lofted in the air and sailed right to Luck. Yes! I’m a soccer goddess- Wham! Luke doubled over in pain… What should I do? I can’t exactly run over there and comfort the guy, right? Luke moaned and rolled on the ground… Omigod. I’ve maimed the hottest guy at Reno High.” After all the funny things I read I couldn’t help  but love the book although the funny factor was great, it isn’t the only thing that contributed to my love for it.

My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters, is a book about finding who Jory really is, and loving herself, and in a way I ended up finding myself along with her. She found what she really cared about, and I began thinking about what was most important to me. With her stupid mistakes came consequences, and with consequences came small epiphanies, and with each little epiphany came a little bits and pieces of the puzzle that makes up the true Jory Michaels.

Throughout the entire book, as the title makes very clear, Jory struggles with the way she sees herself because of her nose. She thinks that eliminating that so called “problem” will fix everything that was ever wrong with her life. By the end of the book she finds that there are other things about her to love, and that she had to love herself before she could feel loved. Sydney Salter wrote this book beautifully, and made the message flow so nicely. There were a few parts that I didn’t like, but there was by far a lot more that I loved than hated.

 

Until next week,

Drop of water!

Stuff and what not

I am so sorry that I didn't get this done sooner, but with my electricity being weird and all, this is the only time I think that it has been stable, so let's hope it stays that way for the sake of my Honors English grade. Now moving on.

This week started off with an air of normality, but ended with just that right mix of hectic, and stress that it now makes me frustrated. I started to get everything done (not my comma test yet, no excuses I haven't emailed it yet), and then the chips just fell into the right place that made it that much harder to stay determined. My parents decided that they wanted they wanted to do some home renovation, and the weather decided to just throw a tantrum.

Thursday rolled along, and with it came terrible winds. Some of my neighbors' yards looked terrible, trees in the streets, and no power. Now how was I supposed to get things done? I tried to help my parents clean up the yard a bit, and just felt plain depressed to see so many peoples' houses devastated. Even then I still had duties to attend to, and off I was to babysit.

In the dark of all places with a two year old who's scared of the dark! Ahhh, I felt horrible "(insert my name here), hold me I'm scared." The poor little girl wanted me to hold her, while I was being drag by a giant dog that had to pee! I somehow managed to get it all balanced, well at least for those four hours, and then I slept like a rock. Oh, this may sound good, but I'm not done yet.

I wake up with Mom my leaning over me telling me that I have to go help clean up the chapel, and to hurry. Off I go trying to help out with a small amount of sleep on the clock, and everyone so cheery. Now I know what it feels like to be around myself, ugh, I'm very sorry for causing anyone pain with my morning energy! It's terrible to just slug about after people that have all the energy in the world! We got home, and I thought I could finally just sleep, but NO it was now time to renovate our home!

My Mom has always hated carpet, and has always wanted to have more hardwood in our house, and she got her wish, because she told my dad and I that we had to do it. Me really? Are you sure? She sure was, because next thing I knew, I was taking all the furniture out of her room, and removing the carpet. It turns out that she also wanted it painted, so that's what we did. On our way back from picking up my sister at the front runner station we went to buy paint. I chose a nice sage green, and decided that it would be easy if we textured it instead of just painting it solid. By the time we finished with painting the wall it was time to go to sleep, but the next day we were up and putting down the new flooring. We finished, and it looked AMAZING, the colors all gave it a very peaceful feel, and I swear I wish it was my room, but that cannot be. So for now I will just have to make do with my princess/ Victorian looking bedroom, and you will have to make do with this as my post.

Drop of water.