- The cover caught my eye.
I also recommend:
- The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen
Summary from GoodReads:
Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn’t left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel s mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur s. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene s unexpected phone call to Arthur a plea for help that jostles them into action. Through Arthur and Kel s own quirky and lovable voices, Heft tells the winning story of two improbable heroes whose sudden connection transforms both their lives.
My Review:
I was taken aback by this story. It seemed interesting enough, and I thought I would enjoy it – but I didn’t expect to fall in love with the story.
Liz Moore has really captured what it is like to deal with the shame of being overweight – morbidly so. Arthur Opp’s emotions, how he deals with his feelings, his love of food (and the reason he loves it so), and his interactions with the people around him are spot on.
While I connected more to Arthur than with the other characters in the book, I did find the interweaving story lines kept my interest – no, they grabbed my interest and held. My only complaint is that I ended up wishing the story had been more about Arthur and Yolanda, rather than Arthur and Kel (Kel was interesting, don’t get me wrong – but he really was overshone by both Arthur and Yolanda).
I highly recommend this book if you are wanting a read that will get you engrossed in the story, and help you understand other perspectives more.
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