Book: Artichoke’s Heart By: Suzanne Supplee
I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up besides the fact that I liked the cover. Its brown background covered in chocolates wrapped in pink grabbed my attention. I was probably just hungry, but after reading a few pages, I decided to stick with it. And I’m glad that I did.
This is the story about a sixteen year old girl Rosemary Good, who is 200 pounds overweight. She knows she's overweight but everyone else insists on telling her that. Her mom buys a treadmill for Christmas. Her aunt always has a disapproving remark. The popular girls at school tease her and that's been going on since middle school when she wore a green puffy jacket to school and they started calling her "Artichoke." Rosemary finds comfort in the junk food she has stashed in her room.
The plot in this book is very realistic. Author Suzanne Supplee put so much into her characters. Rosemary is a fantastic character and her growth throughout the book is realistic. I was cheering her on the whole way through and felt as though I was on the journey with her. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
The character I could connect the most with was Rosie; I loved how her attitude changed as the book progressed. There's a number of times where Rosie would realize something just doesn't matter, or she'd see things a different way, or someone would say something to her that opened her eyes. In some of these instances, even my attitude was changed. It’s amazing how a novel can change your perspective and make you view yourself differently.
While I was reading I was picturing how hard it is for Rosie to lose weight and how bad she feels about herself. She obviously tries but something always happens and she gets depressed and starts eating again. Pg. 31 “I just can’t believe I’ve packed on thirteen pounds. Thirteen pounds! How did that happen? How can I make it stop? Why can’t I make it stop? What if it never, ever stops? What if I’m twenty-five and still tortured by talking scales and well-meaning bakers who keep trying to feed the fat girl. What if at my ten-year class reunion I am still the Artichoke?”
I have no problem connecting or understanding the novel. Everything the author is trying to say is written in a clear, easy and understandable way.
If I could have any character as a friend and if I could jump in the story I would definitely pick Rosie. If I was there with her I could encourage her to eat healthy without making fun of her or forcing her to do anything. I would talk to her and tell her that she should first understand that she’s doing it for her own good and not for anyone else. And I would stop her from drinking the Pounds-Away from the beginning, which would cause her fewer problems.
This book doesn’t really fit together with other books that I’ve read previously. But the plot is somehow similar. The main character has a goal he/she want to reach, he/she faces some challenges along the way but in the end their goal is achieved and the character always learns something from it.
I haven’t done anything similar to what the characters experienced in the book because the whole book is about Rosie trying to lose weight but nevertheless I really like the story and I enjoyed reading it
This book’s ending was exactly how I predicted it. It was a happy ending to a simple, easy read book.
The author uses a lot of literary term to make her story even a better read. Some of the examples are: simile (“I looked like a fat doughnut”) Characterization (“Kay-Kay is the cheerleader/homecoming court/Miss Spring Hill beauty pageant winner/bluebird club kind of girl with beautiful blonde hair up to her shoulders and sky-blue eyes.”) Onomatopoeia (“Baam” when she dropped the box and everyone stared at her) and Imagery (when she describes the treadmill as a monster that she is scared of and how it could change her life if she only tried.)
This book reminds me of my life in a way. My aunt used to be a bit overweight and she was feeling very self-conscious about it. She used to get on these diets where she only drank water for 3 days straight and we were all worried about her. But eventually we convinced her that she can get rid of her extra weight if she starts taking yoga classes and eats healthy. And in the end she did lose all the extra weight, even though it was challenging which is exactly how it happened in the story.
While reading today the part that I could visualize the most was when Rosie’s grandmother came and was very surprised to see Rosie looking really pretty, Rosie was so proud of herself that evening. Pg. 188 “Rosie, honey, you look so pretty I can hardly take my eyes of you. How much weight have you lost exactly” “As of this morning. I’ve lost a total of thirty-eight pounds (I counted my 203 weight just to make the accomplishment even more impressive)”
