Fat Kid Rules the World

Going, K. L. (2003). Fat Kid Rules the World. New York: Speak.

Annotation: 296 pound, 6 foot 1, 17-year-old Troy is about to jump in front of a subway and end it all. But then enters Curt MacCrae. Curt is mostly homeless skinny kid, but for some reason wants to start a band with Troy. Troy discovers a lot about himself, and a whole new world is opened up to him.

Justification for Rejection: I did not like the emphasis on drugs, language, and Troy’s weight in this book.

However, I do understand that that was a “reality” (haha yes I do know this is fiction! ☺) for him. And it is a reality for a lot of adolescents. Troy had a sense that everyone was looking at him all the time – which is so common to the adolescent experience.

I did also like how this book came around in the end. You could see the transformation in Troy’s relationship with his dad and his brother as he matured and began to love himself, he could love them.

I just do not think this book was “great”, and as far as the literary work itself I felt it was lacking and not good. It was confusing and hard to read.

Genre: Coming of Age/Search for Identity