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4.0 out of 5 stars
She's got faith in Max, yet none in herself, Jul 14 2004
Joan Bauer's SQUASHED is a first novel, and yet it doesn't at all read like one. Protagonist Ellie Morgan is fumbling with her confidence and Bauer apparently seems to realize this is an unfortunate thing that many of today's teen girls go through and must overcome. In fact, Ellie is insecure about basically every single option about herself - except for Max. Max is a different story entirely.Meet Max, perhaps the future champ of the pumpkin contest. Ellie likes growing vegetables and likes cooking - in a way, the two go hand and hand. Ellie is a wonderful cook and family knows it. Cooking reminds Ellie of her deceased mother, who died when she was younger. Still, the memories live on and give Ellie the strength she needs. Back to Max... Ellie is the mother of Max - she treats him like a newborn baby, nuturing him daily and chasing off the crows that land on his stem. Now, if only Ellie could drop 20 pounds, while simultaneously, Max put on 200. If Ellie was lighter, she resolutely believes, she'd have the courage to approach Wes, a new hottie at school. And if Max gained 200 pounds, he'd be a shoe-in for the pumpkin contest victory! Cyril, winner of many previous competitions, proves that with his own pumpkin, 46 days prior to the contest, will be a difficult entry to beat. Upon seeing Cyril's pumpkin, Ellie brushes him off with a laugh. "Is that what you call a pumpkin?" she laughs. Inside, she's nervous, but on the outside, she's perfectly able to play it cool in the presence of nerdy yet all too arrogant Cyril. Will she be able to work against the unpredictable and unfavorable weather that's threatening her baby? Will her father finally learn to appreciate her love for veggie growing? Will Ellie drop her weight and muster up her bravado to get with Wes? Will Max demolish Cyril's entry in the town's competition for the very first time? Read and see. :) SQUASHED is a very nice first effort and worth a read. Bauer tells a story of a protagonist who will make many rejoice, for she is much like them. SQUASHED is, for the most part, a seemingly coming-of-age novel, yet it is laced with wry wit and raw humor at the very same time. Ellie is a girl who is insecure and unbeknownst to her honestly valuable and significant worth. She needs to realize she has the sass, potential, and heart of a truly wonderful 16 year-old girl. And that, quite frankly, is far better than any contest win.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
squashed, Mar 7 2003
In the book, Squashed, sixteen year old Ellie Morgan, the main character, is determined to take the first place spot light from her rival, Cyril Pool. Her life would be almost perfect if she could just get her potentially prize winning pumpkin, Max, to put on about two-hundred pounds, and if she could loose twenty herself. It was a perfect time for Ellie to start planting her prize winning pumpkin. Ellie had plain to complete this task with her new secret booster solution to add some more pounds on her pumpkin. With the extra weight, Max would be the champion at the Rock River pumpkin weight in. Ellie could then become a famous pumpkin-growing personality and squash the obnoxious Cyril Pool once and for all. With trimmer figure, Ellie would have the courage to face Wes, the new boy in town and former president of the Agriculture Club at Gaithersville High.
I enjoyed reading the book, Squashed. Because it was fun reading about the many ways Ellie Morgan used to reach her goal and strive to the top. I love how the author, Joan Bauer, wrote in descriptive detail and added interesting dialogue to the story.
The many interesting characters like Wes, which Ellie didn't have the courage to face because of her body weight, and Cyril poor, whom was beaten be Ellie towards the end of the story at the Rock River Weigh-in. Ellie becomes very proud of herself and is always determined to be better and better every time.
The part that interests me the most was when Cyril Pool's pumpkin gave a shocking surprise at the Rock River Weight-in. While Cyril cheers himself on the worst that could happen happened. Cyril's pumpkin started to ooze with orange slime. There was so much of it; it stared to run down the giant scale. Cyril ran to his pumpkin and tried to patch him up, like a little boy who put his finger in the dam, but it was too late. The pumpkin started to shrink. I also enjoyed reading about the part of Ellie's weighing. Ellie's pumpkin weighted in at six-hundred eleven point seven pounds. She set a new record in festival history, which also happened to be there greatest pumpkin in the world.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Ellie Morgan: a sixteen year old who grows giant pumpkins., Jan 1 2002
Unlike the title, the book Squashed by Joan Bauer is completely the opposite.Ellie goes through the typical problems of normal teenagers; being overweight, lusting over a new kid in town, and growing giant pumpkins for competition isn't exactly easy, you know. But, despite the startling plot ("A girl who grows pumpkins. Gee, that'll go far!"), Joan Bauer really makes this book flow; Ellie's feelings, her communication problems with her father (who, actually, dislikes the agricultural side of life, despite living in the middle of Iowa), and the gentle evolution of confidence Ellie has for herself (mainly due to her getting a boyfriend, even being overweight) really makes this book unique. This book is amazing; I cannot stress how little my praise truly means until you read the book - trust me, a complete stranger; once you read the first page, you'll be in love with Ellie for the rest of - and after - the book. The writing is stunning; I still find myself laughing every few minutes, even though I've reread the book about six times. Joan Bauer made this book as if she was Ellie, living her life and her emotions; one thing that really made me roar with laughter included how Ellie told Max [her pumpkin] parts from motivational tapes of her father's. Several problems in this book, that I could find, included how the ending never seemed to come - you think, "Gee, this HAS to be the ending!" and in fact, you're nowhere close to it. That is, however, a good thing, considering Ms. Bauer's writing abilities. Another problem was how, sometimes, the book got slightly 'mushy'; all romance-filled and sad and such. But then again, I AM a teenage male - we think these things. To stress Ms. Bauer's talents, the whole party scene made me embarassed for Ellie; all of her feelings were mine, for that point in time. I had to constantly look away from the book - this rarely happens, unless the book is so horrible I want to fling it against the wall. This was, however, fantastic; I love it when I feel true empathy for characters in books. This book is fantastic for all ages, as well; I forced my mother to read the book (seeing as we have similar tastes in books) and she agrees with me: Ellie is a true heroine. The five stars were, pretty much, all explained; I advise you to buy this book - this is one buy you will never regret.
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