The Downside of Being Charlie
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Charlie is handed a crappy senior year. Despite losing thirty pounds over the summer, he still gets called "Chunks" Grisner. What's worse, he has to share a locker with the biggest Lord of the Rings freak his school has ever seen. He also can't figure out whether Charlotte VanderKleaton, the beautiful strawberry lip-glossed new girl, likes him the way he likes her. Oh, and then there's his mom. She's disappeared -- again -- and his dad won't talk about it.
Somewhere between the madness, Charlie can at least find comfort in his one and only talent that just might get him out of this life-sucking place. But will he be able to hold his head above water in the meantime?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Charlie went to "Camp Fit" during the summer before his senior year and lost 30 pounds, but he's still carrying a heavy load. His volatile mother has disappeared again, and Charlie learns that his father is harboring a secret. Adding to his emotional whiplash, a girl is actually interested in Charlie dreamy Charlotte VanderKleaton and Charlie is forced to share a locker with the weirdest girl in school, which makes him seem like a freak by association. Peppered with sardonic humor, debut author Sanchez's confessional-style prose conveys Charlie's distress and confusion as his family life disintegrates, he turns to binging and purging, and he navigates an uncertain relationship with Charlotte. With the support of his friend Ahmed a charming throwback who talks like a member of the Rat Pack and by confronting his relationships with food and his family via a photography project, Charlie begins to learn who he really is. Sanchez explores the psychological underpinnings of eating disorders while creating a complete character in the closet-brilliant but perennially tongue-tied Charlie. Ages 13 up.
