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3.5 

Fat Kid Rules the World

By K. L. Going
Fat Kid Rules the World by K. L. Going digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

A Michael L. Printz Honor Book

Troy Billings is seventeen, 296 pounds, friendless, utterly miserable, and about to step off a New York subway platform in front of an oncoming train. Until he meets Curt MacCrae, an emaciated, semi-homeless, high school dropout guitar genius, the stuff of which Lower East Side punk rock legends are made. Never mind that Troy’s dad thinks Curt’s a drug addict and Troy’s brother thinks Troy’s the biggest (literally) loser in Manhattan. Soon, Curt’s recruited Troy as his new drummer—even though Troy can’t play the drums. Together, Curt and Troy will change the world of punk, and Troy’s own life, forever.

"Troy's voice is candid, irreverent, realistic and humorous. [A] wonderful, engrossing tale."—SLJ

An ALA BBYA

BCCB Blue Ribbon Book

Booklist Editors' Choice

An SLJ Best Book of the Year

Miami Herald Best Book of the Year

163 Reviews

3.5
“I really do get why this book would win awards. The main protagonist is an obese teen, a POV character that the YA world rarely if ever gets to see. His view of society and how society views him is in many ways special. There's no sugar coating of his initial experience before he becomes friends with Curt. However, as a reader I couldn't get over the ending as it was too ridiculous. I didn't understand it. Not in the comprehension sense, I mean more on a literary and world building scale. The ending rang false, almost an attempt to make sure an absurd happily ever after occurred despite the fact that logical errors had to occur for the ending to function. Before we can even get to the ending, we have to talk about Curt and Troy. Curt stops Troy from jumping in front of a subway train and afterwards the two teens go to a diner and become fast friends. Curt calls this his reward for saving Troy's life. The way Curt eats is rather sickening to me. Not Troy, Curt, the malnourished skinny one. I always had the bad habit of reading this book before or right after I ate and being a wuss when it comes to gross food habits, I had to put this book down a couple of times. I admit up front my food habit tolerance is very low. You can't deny just how hard the world is for Troy and you may even see yourself in the pages of this book. I don't think of myself as being cruel to other people, but one scene describes how people are purposely avoiding looking at him in order not to stare. It's this odd catch 22, where he wants to be ignored, but he doesn't want to be treated as invisible. I could see myself avoiding someone in order to avoid being rude by staring. For that reason alone, this is an interesting novel, because it addresses the idea of being invisible. I think most decent people outside of high school do not point and laugh, but you learn through this novel that causing someone to feel invisible is just as bad. And the sad thing is those that do are actively trying not to make Troy feel bad! That's a very poignant scene that deserves so much credit. I felt terrible every time Troy made references to his weight and when he wondered whether people would make fun of him in certain situations due to his weight. His own father even ignores him, but the father grows as a character, and by the end you'll love Troy's father immensely. I felt terrible every time Troy worried Curt would one day make fun of him and never want to be his friend again. He needed Curt so badly, that it was impossible for those scenes not to wound you. You can't help feeling sorry for a human being, a teen boy, who only wants human companionship in any way he can get. There's also Curt. Is he or isn't he a drug addict? Is Troy in denial about Curt? For an author who was so honest about Troy's world and what it meant to be an obese teen today along with how the family dynamics would be affected, Going doesn't take the same amount of concern with Curt. She wants the character of Curt to be a rock star, a legend, someone you can easily forgive, but in order to create Troy's foil she inadvertently creates a caricature by ending the book in a fantastical way and not properly addressing Curt's issues. Troy's father has to act out of character. There has to be negligence on the part of those who were taking care of Curt at the end of the book. Adults have to lack parental supervision skills and common sense. What was a gritty and difficult book to read about adolescent behavior, becomes a silly book about a boy wanting to be a rock star. Perhaps some may feel the ending was perfect for Troy, but I felt he deserved better. He deserved an honest and authentic ending as he spent most of the novel telling us the gritty details and truth being being obese in America today.”

About K. L. Going

K. L. Going lives with her family in the Hudson Valley area of New York State. Since graduating from college she has worked as an adult literacy tutor, a ticket agent for a major airline, a front desk clerk at a resort hotel, and an assistant in a Manhattan literary agency. She has lived in Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and New York. K.L. is the author of many books, including Fat Kid Rules The World, The Liberation of Gabriel King, and Dog in Charge. Her first novel, Fat Kid Rules the World, was a YALSA Michael L. Printz honor book.

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