Kick-ass review from School Library Journal (October 01, 2006) for Manstealing for Fat Girls!
Gr 9 Up - Angie, 16, wishes she were thin, so she tries to stop eating, which doesn’t work. She wishes her mother wouldn’t marry sleazy Rudy, but he’s just moved in with all his stuff. She wishes the popular kids would leave her alone, but they’ve called her Lezzylard since seventh grade. Her friend, Shelby, is an out lesbian. Only one of their friend Heathers breasts has developed, and her parents are anxious to have her fixed. When Angie finally tells off perfect, popular Mindy, she is sexually assaulted by Mindy’s boyfriend in the girls room. What follows is a delicious revenge scheme, masterminded by Shelby’s older sister, a tornado of rage, snappy comebacks, and hairspray. Every one of Embree’s characters is fully realized, complex, and engaging. Angie is disgusted by her body and confused about her sexuality, but never hates herself. She’s alternatively wicked and woeful, and her commentary on everything from sex and drugs to glitter mascara is spot on. The novel is perfectly paced, and Angie’s thoughtful, gut-tearing, hilarious narrative builds the plot quietly. The author masterfully uses the rednecks, Red Lobsters, Dumpsters, and strip malls of working-class suburbia to create an ugly yet alluring post-punk setting."Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library" Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
The full expurgated review, cause when they come this good, ya don't nned the pull quotes...
But, because theer are some retty good pull-quotes from some other review organs, those are below:
"[A]s real and relevant as anything Judy Blume has written."--San Francisco Chronicle
"Embree has crafted a very sharp look at adolescent longing and angst."--Publishers Weekly
"[A] rare, authentic, and sometimes horrifying view of a high-school misfit's experience. The dialogue and social situations, as well as Angie's narration, are astonishingly realistic, and without sensationalizing, Embree writes in frank, explicit language about her teen characters' friendships, insecurities, first sex, and fantasies, fueled by encounters with porn. Set in 1980s St. Louis, this may attract adults who remember the cultural references, but it's teens, particularly those outside the popular core, who are likely to embrace the book and eagerly pass it on."--Booklist
"Embree's debut has roots in the punk-lit underground—drugs, disaffection, sex, violence and freakiness abound—but the weird innocence of its teen narrator makes it read like an uncensored YA novel... Sure to be shoplifted by teen delinquents, but also has a shot at adult cult status."--Kirkus
"Cynical yet sweet (but never oversweet) and frequently hilarious, this first novel captures the free-fall, occasionally magical hell of being a freak in high school as well as anything I've ever read. If you ever got called faggot or lezzy on the school bus, you'll find this instantly recognizable. If you didn't, maybe it's time to find out how it felt."--Poppy Z. Brite, author of Liquor
"You could say that Michelle Embree's writing is 'fierce' or 'honest' or 'gritty' — or you could just cut the bullshit and say that it's really fucking good. This is the new Paula Danziger." —Zoe Trope, author of Please Don't Kill the Freshman
"Michelle Embree prods the messy, bleeding heart of the teenage wasteland, bringing us a cast of high school misfits, all way too real and full of the brutal smarts and hilarity possessed by resilient outsider kids. I totally loved it."--Michelle Tea, author of The Chelsea Whistle
"Michelle Embree’s Manstealing for Fat Girls just might be the love child of John Waters and John Hughes. A wickedly brilliant debut that captures picture-perfect the horrors of middle-American teen angst."--Felicia Luna Lemus, author of Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties
"Beautifully and honestly written... I wish there were books like this when I was growing up -- books that dealt with issues of class, ethnicity, gender and sexuality, both intelligently and unabashedly, within the contemporary culture."--Michael Turner, author of The Pornographers Poem
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