1 of 1 copy available
Simone never saw herself as the "cute girl"—she was always the chunky smartmouth. But after a year of avoiding her wicked almost-stepmonster through Zumba class, Simone's now sporting a whole new retro style. And people keep acting oddly. One thing: her stepmonster seems to be trying to accidentally kill her, or at least fatten her back up. And so when Simone's brother offers to let her move in with him and his six roommates for the summer, Simone jumps at the chance for some normalcy. Only living with seven very different college boys isn't exactly going to help her land her very own happily ever after . . .
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 19, 2012 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781101572498
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781101572498
- File size: 733 KB
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- ATOS Level: 5.1
- Interest Level: 9-12(UG)
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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June 15, 2012
In a modern wish-fulfillment fairy tale that applies and removes feminism like makeup--frequently, easily and with relish--Simone goes from That Weird Fat Girl to hottie. Simone has pale skin, jet-black hair and lips so naturally red that her wannabe-stepmother smolders with jealousy. Hillary's 28-year-old, zero-fat body and blond hair have Simone's widowed father under "some kind of spell." Snow White details sparkle: Classmate Jason's "sort of a prince" in this wealthy Los Angeles neighborhood because his dad's Oscars make him royalty; Simone spends summertime in a house with seven men (her happy--get it?--brother and six others, including a sleepyhead with narcolepsy); Hillary evilly provides Hostess Apple Pies to trigger Simone's apple allergy. The frothy danger matches the contemporary pop culture (Jersey Shore; Urban Dictionary) and brands (Saab; OPI vs. Essie). Simone's first-person narration is wryly funny. However, messages mix: The text name-checks feminism, then counsels passivity because being "girl-like" is bad. Palmer conflates being "officially fat" (size 16) with Tastykake binges and emotional repression, and she imbues dieting to fit a size 8 dream dress with Simone's new feeling that "I looked like... me." Her real dream boy is African-American--Blush, one of the seven--yet offhanded racial jabs pepper the story. Apple-flavored cotton candy: fast and tasty, possibly slightly poisonous. (Fiction. 11-14)COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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July 1, 2012
Grades 8-10 Palmer, author of Cindy Ella (2008) and Geek Charming (2009), retells the story of Snow White in her own quirky, hilarious style. Simone has Snow's dark hair, fair skin, and ruby lips, but one thing is differentshe is fat. As Simone takes control of her body and her life, she realizes that she is truly beautiful, something she couldn't recognize before when she looked in the mirror. Living with seven strange college guys, crushing on her high-school Prince Charming, and dealing with her diabolical future stepmother add a few fun twists as well. This Snow White isn't perfect, but she's OK with that.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)
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