Big Girl Small [Paperback]

Judy Lohden is your average teenager in so many ways: insecure, wishes she could be more popular, embarrassed by her parents, etc. But, she is only three feet tall and has a singing voice that astounds everyone. The story takes place in Judy's junior year of high school; her first year at D'Arcy High, a high caliber performing arts school. The author weaves between past and present effortlessly. All of the characters in the story have depth and their own stories. We follow Judy's arrival at D'Arcy and the subsequent event that may alter her life forever. At times, I wanted the author to reveal the cause of Judy's pain much earlier in the book. However, upon completion of the novel -- it all made perfect sense. I thought the author pegged the teenage angst perfectly. This is one of those stories where I have been thinking of the characters long after I put the book down. Interestingly, the parents are not protrayed as enemies and most of the teens also reveal themselves as complex, multidimensional characters. I don't want to give away the "event" that changes Judy's life, but I can say that this book would give book clubs much to talk about. Not only in discussing the characters, their motivation, and their actions/reactions, but in relation to current events and today's family values. Great writing, great editing, and a story that will haunt you afterward!

My biggest problem in writing this review is I want to give Big Girl Small 6 stars. That is how compelling this new novel is. It is a brilliant novel, completely innovative, enchanting, and beautifully crafted. I was already a fan of Rachel DeWoskin after reading Repeat After Me, and I was eager to get my copy of Big Girl Small, so I came to it with big expectations.

The protagonist, Judy Lohden, is small in height, less than four feet tall, but big in talent, ambition, smarts, and wit. The narrative is her autobiography, and it displays all that is big about her. She recounts her journey, her first year at Darcy High, a performing arts high school in Ann Arbor Michigan. Born into a family of average height, we learn of the pride and courage with which she had faced life and led her to apply to Darcy High. That is her big gamble at being mainstream. She takes the stage and performs before an audience, not as a Wizard of Oz munchkin, but as a regular, talented high school girl. Her stage performance is a smash hit.

Judy triumphs over the challenges she expected at Darcy. But there are challenges she does not expect, a performance she does not intend, and Judy descends into a dark night she could never have imagined. Without a touch of mawkish sentimentality, but with the same encompassing tolerance and the same powerful storyteller's touch displayed in Repeat after Me, DeWoskin takes us along on that journey, through Judy's eye's, Judy's wit, Judy's insight, and Judy's 3'9" perspective.

It goes without saying I could not put the book down, and I will read it again. There is a clarity, humanity, and depth in this story that makes it not just about a little person, but about every adolescent and every person who has dealt with some personal "insufficiency," real or imagined. The book is rich in texture and authentic detail about the school and the city of Ann Arbor, where I believe DeWoskin herself went to high school.

This book could be a young person's read. It is certainly an adult read. And I believe it is likely to be a very big popular read.

Judy Lohden, our narrator, is a sixteen-year-old dwarf who has the most wonderful parents, owners of a down-home-type restaurant in Ann Arbor, a restaurant they had named after their daughter. Judy has two brothers, one older, Chad, and one younger, Sam. She is the only dwarf in the family. And she is highly talented, both as a writer--she establishes herself well as a believable narrator--and a performer in an all-arts high school.
For a while, but not for long, I thought I was going to be entering the life of a "Glee"-type school, that Judy Lohden would be like one of those cast members on the popular sitcom.
Judy has a couple of girl friends--as opposed to girlfriends (she's straight) who play an important role in this novel. One is Goth Sarah. The other Molly.
And then there is drop-dead handsome Kyle, fairly new at the school as is Judy. And for a while we are led to believe that her infatuation with Kyle will lead to nothing.
But then...
Oh my...
I just want to tell all.
But I won't.
Except to say this: if you are like me you will not be able to put this novel down once you get halfway through. But I will bite my tongue.
Except...to say this: we live in the age of YouTube! And this novel will make us only too aware of the downside of an era in which...
Nope. I'm biting it!
This is one of the most believable books I have read from the point of view of a teenager although I suspect many parents would not want their sixteen-year-olds reading it.