One of our 2018 Books of the Year
September 2018 Book of the Month | In a Nutshell: love, trust, truth, and being true to yourself | This engaging and refreshingly candid sequel to the bestselling The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things tackles big issues (body shaming, date rape, parental pressure) with big-hearted verve, sincerity and charm.
Vibrant, witty, purple-and-green-haired Virginia attends a prestigious private Manhattan school but despite this privileged background, her life’s not exactly a bowlful of cherries. On good days Virginia considers herself to be curvy. On bad days she’s “plain old fat”.
She comes from “a family of fat-shamers” and is constantly undermined by her high-achieving older siblings. Virginia has a boyfriend, though, Froggy. Except she’s no longer into him, which is another source of tension – she is, after all, the girl who wrote: “if you’re a chunky chick and you managed to get a nice boyfriend, don’t ever let him go”, so it’s quite a struggle for Virginia to decide whether she should let him go.
Then, while you’re 110% rooting for her to make the right decision, fate intervenes in the form of a chance encounter with cute artist Sebastian. He’s attentive, complimentary and makes her feel pretty. As they become closer (and cuter), complicated connections emerge when Virginia’s big brother Byron is arrested for a serious offence, leaving the lovebirds with a whole lot of conflicts you’ll be desperate for them to resolve.
The story is a real edge-of-your-seat page-turner, but Virginia is the true star of this well-plotted piece. At once ambitious and insecure, she zings from the page as a firecracker of relatable, true-to-life contradictions, while Byron’s appalling actions – and their painful repercussions – expose male privilege with thought-provoking poignancy. Highly recommended for fans of Rainbow Rowell and Holly Bourne. ~ Joanne Owen
This year Carolyn Mackler will re-release her beloved coming-of-age novel The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things in a newly updated edition. Now she drops readers right back into the hilarious, haphazard life of Virginia Shreves in this long-awaited sequel! Perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell and Dumplin'.
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This year Carolyn Mackler will re-release her beloved coming-of-age novel The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things in a newly updated edition. Now she drops readers right back into the hilarious, haphazard life of Virginia Shreves in this long-awaited sequel!
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I and determined it is suitable for children aged 13-18 years old
The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I features in the following genres: Books of the Month, Recommendations, Stories about Family and Friends, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for Young Adults, Recommended Children's eBooks, Romance / Relationship Stories, Featured Books for 13+ readers
Paperback. Not Available.
The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I was written by Carolyn Mackler and published by Bloomsbury YA an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I has 282 pages
