Module 7, My Louisiana Sky and Fat Kid Rules the World

#1 Bibliographic Information

Holt, Kimberly Willis (1998). My Louisiana sky. New York: Henry Holt.

#2 Summary

In 1957 small-town Saitter, Louisiana, Tiger Ann Parker lives with her grandmother and her mentally challenged parents, Corinna and Lonnie.  A tomboy with a fantastic talent for baseball, Tiger doesn't have a lot of girlfriends; Jesse Wade, her father's wealthy boss's son, is her best and only friend.  Generally, Tiger would be satisfied with this, but she's at a point in her adolescence when she begins craving to be like the other girls--the girls without mentally challenged parents, with pretty dresses, and pools in their back yards.  Things go particularly sour when Tiger's mother embarrasses her in front of the popular girls in her class.  Then Jesse Wade goes to a party to which Tiger wasn't invited, and when he tries to apologize, he kisses her, making Tiger confused and upset.  In the midst of this adolescent turmoil, Tiger's grandmother passes away, leaving her to bear the brunt of the responsibility for her parents.  Soon after her grandmother's death, Tiger's glamorous Aunt Dorie Kay comes to Saitter to take Tiger for a visit to her home in Baton Rouge.  There, Dorie asks Tiger to consider living with her--Tiger's chance of a lifetime.  But when she goes home, her father, with his special talent, predicts a very bad storm, and the next day, a hurricane hits.  Tiger's mother, believing Tiger to be in the woods, runs to find her, and Tiger finds her there, wet and muddy.  They make it back to the house, and are joined there later by her father, who is the town hero for predicting the storm and saving the town's large nursery--the town's main primary industry.  The experience leaves no doubt in Tiger's mind that never again will she fight with Jesse Wade, be embarrassed by her parents, or think of leaving Saitter.  

#3 Reaction

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  First, I love Louisiana, second, I totally relate to Tiger's tomboyish talent for baseball and male company.  And I loved her character.  Tiger narrates the story as a sincere, loving girl, who in a moment of selfishness, wishes for another life.  But soon after, she admits her folly, setting a great example of character for the book's readers.  I also very much enjoyed Holt's plainly poetic writing style.  Her writing was so unassuming and undistracting that it seemed as though the story truly just grew out of the time and place.  Her description of the characters and the landscape were particularly moving.

#4 Reviews for My Louisiana Sky

Review #1

For eleven-year-old Tiger Ann Parker, Saitter, Louisiana, is not only the place where she has lived her whole life with Momma and Daddy and Granny, but also a place where some people think that her "Momma and Daddy should have never been allowed to get married because they're different" — or "retarded." Momma giggles and coos in front of the new rabbit-eared television from morning 'til night ("It's Howdy Doody time…") and Daddy can't even do simple math. Granny, the backbone of the household and an integral source of strength for Tiger, tells her, "People are afraid of what's different. That don't mean different is bad. Just means different is different." But for Tiger, "different" has become just plain embarrassing. Why can't her parents be more like Aunt Dorie Kay, Momma's younger sister, who wears high-heels and make-up and has a fancy job in Baton Rouge? When the death of her grandmother presents Tiger with the opportunity to move with Dorie Kay to Baton Rouge, even in her grief she can hardly leave Saitter fast enough. But after cutting her hair a la Audrey Hepburn and going by "Ann" for a while, Tiger begins to see the ways of her parents that, while not glamorous or book-smart, root her to home and to herself.Holt's languid storytelling style is as unhurried as a Louisiana summer, a soft steady breeze turning the pages. She exercises unusual restraint for a first-time novelist as she eases the action along with a low-key, unpretentious plot, never resorting to over-dramatization or sentimentality in developing her uncannily credible characters. So honest is Holt's portrayal of Tiger, Momma, Daddy, Granny, and the rest that one wonders if she wrote their story while sitting in a rocker on a Saitter front porch, under the vast promises of a Louisiana sky.

--Bousquin, Marilyn. My Louisiana sky. Horn Book Magazine, 74(4), 489-490.

Review #2

Tiger Ann Parker, who lives with her parents, Corrina and Lonnie, and Granny Jewel on a Louisiana farm, is looking forward to playing baseball and swimming with her best friend during the summer of 1957. Tiger is close to her family, but she has conflicting emotions about her mentally retarded parents. When Granny Jewel dies suddenly, Corrina retreats into childlike seclusion, and it is quickly apparent that Lonnie can't run the household. Sophisticated Aunt Dorie Kay comes to handle funeral arrangements and take Tiger home with her for a visit. Tiger is mesmerized by the glamour of city life. She quickly becomes "Ann" instead of Tiger, gets her hair cut like Audrey Hepburn and plans to accept Aunt Dorie Kay's offer of permanent residence in Baton Rouge. Tiger returns home for the rest of the summer accompanied by her aunt's housekeeper, Magnolia, who miraculously pulls Corrina out of her depression and sets the household to rights. When Hurricane Audrey lashes Saitter with wind and rain, Lonnie saves his employer's nursery stock, proving himself to be a capable employee. Some scary moments during the hurricane cause Tiger to realize how important her family and home are to her, and she decides to stay. This is a thoughtful coming-of-age tale, which colorfully depicts life as it was not so long ago. It is the author's first youth novel; hopefully, there will be a sequel. Recommended.

--Sebesta, Karen (1998).  Book Report (17)3, 52.

#5 Suggestion for Library Use

This book deals with mentally challenged characters, so it could be used to make readers aware.  There is a movie version of this book, which could be watched during a library program, and then talked about by a librarian, or even a guest speaker who's had experience with a mental disability or who professionally helps in this area.

#1 Biblographic Information

Going, K.L. (2003). Fat kid rules the world. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

#2 Summary

Troy Billings is 17 years old and just under 300 pounds.  His life is miserable.  It seems that everyone who glances his way is making either an outer, or inner commentary about his size.  His mother is dead, his father is a meticulously well-built ex-Marine, and his little brother is an athletic, popular jerk.  One day, at the train station, Troy has been contemplating suicide for several minutes, when a homeless, starvation-skinny kid introduces himself as Curt MacCrae--a living legend punk-rock guitarist from his school.  Troy and Curt strike up a friendship, and Curt decides to fashion Troy into his new drummer.  This is Troy's dream, and he knows it.  Curt is everything he wants to be, but there's just one thing: Troy can't drum.  They throw themselves into practicing, and Troy is even taking lessons.  But when the day comes, Troy vomits on stage before he ever plays a beat.  Down on himself for quitting, Troy starts binge-eating, and avoiding all of Curt's phone calls.  Finally, a friend tells him that Curt isn't doing well, and Troy finds him, high and sick with the flu.  Troy takes him to the hospital, where he and his father look after him, and decide to get him off drugs.  After Curt finds out and accuses them of wanting to save him and then ditch him, Troy, his dad, and even his little brother, steal Curt from the hospital to take him to perform in his show.  There he and Troy, having faith in each other, finally become a band.

#3 Reaction

Every self-conscious teenager needs to read this book--which means, I guess, that every teenager needs to read this book.  The emotions Troy experiences--mostly depression--are so easy to understand, no matter what the issue.  This story will relate to anyone who feels that he/she doesn't have the clothes, hair, body, looks, talent, intelligence, etc. that they desperately want.  But hopefully more than that, it can bring out the cruelty of every sneer and scoff a teenage crowd can work on someone in a weak emotional state.  There is quite a bit of profanity and some sexual overtones in the book, so I can't say it's exactly appropriate reading material for kids younger than high school-age (14-18).  However, it is a true-to-life depiction of the intense struggles teenagers often experience.

#4 Reviews for Fat Kid Rules the World 

Review #1
Gr 8 Up-The opening lines of this first-person narrative immediately hook readers as they enter the lonely, troubled, self-deprecating worldof Troy Billings, a 296-pound 17-year-old who contemplates ending his life by jumping off a New York City subway platform. He is interrupted by Curt MacCrae, a legendary punk-rock guitarist and sometime-student at W. T. Watson High School. When Curt connects with him and "saves his life," Troy is amazed that someone, especially someone as cool as Curt, wants to befriend him. An unlikely, almost symbiotic relationship develops between these two. Curt convinces Troy to be the drummer in his band, even though he hasn't touchedthe drums since seventh grade. He is flattered by the suggestion and believes that being in the band could be his key to acceptance.Troy's voice is candid, irreverent, realistic, and humorous. He imagines the events of his life in facetious headlines always related to his weight. Curt himself is the product of a dysfunctional family, and he has plenty of problems of his own, including a reliance on drugs.Going has created three-dimensional characters whose behavior rings true. There are many unexpected twists and turns, including thehorrifying and hysterically gross depiction of Troy's first gig. Fans of Joyce Carol Oates's Big Mouth & Ugly Girl (HarperCollins, 2002) will love this wonderful, engrossing tale.
--Steinberg, Renee (2003). Fat kid rules the world (book). School Library Journal (49)5, 152.

Review #2

Overweight and friendless, high school senior Troy Billings is standing on the edge of the subway tracks contemplating suicide when a dirty and disheveled young man engages him in conversation and prevents him from taking the plunge. He's Curt MacCrae, a legend at Troy's school for being "the only truly homeless, sometimes student, sometimes dropout, punk rock, artist god among us." For reasons that Troy does not at first understand, Curt invites him to join his band as a drummer, even though Troy has only minimal experience with music. Both characters are strongly defined. Hyperactive and frustratingly enigmatic, iconoclastic Curt has the soul of an artist, as well as a self-destructive streak fed by incessant pill-popping. Troy's obesity is over stated (references to his sweating and huffing-and-puffing seem to appear on every page), but his emotional neediness is palpable and genuinely moving. As the friendship between the boys develops, Troy explores New York's punk music scene (about to give his debut performance, he throws up on the stage; the audience loves it) and comes to a better understanding of both his brother and (wonderfully portrayed) widowed father. But his emerging sense of self-worth also leads him to make a decision that could destroy his friendship with the increasingly troubled Curt. In this gritty and intense novel--perhaps more of a character study than a plot-driven story--these two disparate and desperate teenagers attempt to save each other and, quite possibly, end up saving themselves as well.

--Sieruta, Peter D. (2003).  Fat kid rules the world. Horn Book Magazine (79)4, 456-457.

#5 Suggestion for Library Use

Certainly, this book should be promoted on the library's facebook page.  Maybe there could even be online discussion about its message--the library administrator could post a message encouraging facebook friends to comment on the book and express their feelings about Troy, his dad and brother, and Curt, and even the kind of music they're into--their own favorite drummers, etc.  Anything to get them talking about the book.