The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula DanzigerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is actually a.re-read, too. I read it many, many years ago. It belongs to a group of books that I think of as realistic fiction / learning to deal with the world.
One of the things that was of particular interest to me in this re-read is the attitude toward the issues of the day. I took a college class that was big on talking about and doing the types of things the students did in "Smedley". This seems to be very out-of-date now. The issue about saying the pledge has been resolved in many cases (though certainly not all). It is interesting to see the focus on dress.
Two things are of particular interest. The attitude of the father - a sort of don't rock the boat - and his way of treating his wife and children seemed very negative to me. I wonder if books like this would even appear in the current culture. The father is a bully. And his wife and children suffer from it. Though there is a hint that the father will back off a bit towards the end of the book, it is an uneasy resolution - perhaps a foreshadowing of the rise (again) of feminism.
The other thing that is of particular interest to me is the attitude of everyone about the MC weight problem. I have a weight problem, so this particularly needles me. In this book, the mother does some of the same things that annoy me so in people who try to "help" me lose weight. Offering to buy new clothes. Smiling or extending approval when you pass up a dessert. Telling you that people don't care about your weight. These, and other things, were not helpful for me. It made me feel like others felt they owned my problem. That they felt that weight was something I needed help with. They felt that it was their right to give suggestions about how to deal with it. Weight, before shyness, before reaction to being bullied, before normal problems of growing up (dating). Weight tied into everything.
Positives: I liked seeing the kids deal with their situations. I liked the obvious emotional volatility of that age of children.
All in all: a bit dated, but still interesting.
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