Big Girl

Landing her dream job as a high school teacher, Victoria Dawson loves working with her students and wages war on her wei... (more)

Landing her dream job as a high school teacher, Victoria Dawson loves working with her students and wages war on her weight at the gym. Despite tension with her parents, Victoria remains close to her sister, Gracie, and when Grace announces her engagement to a man who is an exact replica of their narcissistic father, a chance encounter, an act of stunning betrayal, and a family confrontation lead to a turning point in Victoria's life. (less)

"Big Girl chronicles Kelsey's journey into self-loathing and disordered eating-and out of it. This is a memoir for anyon... (more)

"Big Girl chronicles Kelsey's journey into self-loathing and disordered eating-and out of it. This is a memoir for anyone who's dealt with a distorted body image, food issues, or a dysfunctional family. It's for the late-bloomers and the not-yet-bloomed. It's for everyone who's tried and failed and felt like a big, fat loser. So, basically, everyone."--Page 4 of cover. (less)

"Exquisitely compassionate and witty, Big Girl traces the intergenerational hungers and desires of Black womanhood, as t... (more)

"Exquisitely compassionate and witty, Big Girl traces the intergenerational hungers and desires of Black womanhood, as told through the unforgettable voice of Malaya Clondon. In her highly anticipated debut novel, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan explores the perils-and undeniable beauty-of insatiable longing. Growing up in a rapidly changing Harlem, eight-year-old Malaya hates when her mother drags her to Weight Watchers meetings; she'd rather paint alone in her bedroom or enjoy forbidden street foods with her father. For Malaya, the pressures of her predominantly white Upper East Side prep school are relentless, as are the expectations passed down from her painfully proper mother and sharp-tongued grandmother. As she comes of age in the 1990s, she finds solace in the music of Biggie Smalls and Aaliyah, but her weight continues to climb-until a family tragedy forces her to face the source of her hunger, ultimately shattering her inherited stigmas surrounding women's bodies, and embracing her own desire. Written with vibrant lyricism shot through with tenderness, Big Girl announces Sullivan as an urgent and vital voice in contemporary fiction"-- (less)

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A chubby little girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and ordinary looks, Victoria Dawson has always felt out of place in her... (more)

A chubby little girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and ordinary looks, Victoria Dawson has always felt out of place in her family, especially in body-conscious Los Angeles. Her parents are disappointed by their daughter's looks. Later in life, the one thing Victoria knows is that she has to get as far away from home as possible and, after college in Chicago (which her parents disapprove of), she moves to New York City. (less)