Squashed

Everything this Newbery winning author writes is a gem. This is a laugh out loud book with a creative turn of a phrase. The images are crisp and the feelings produced are lovely.

In many ways it reminds me of the Jan Karon Mitford books.

Residing in a simple town of characters who live in Iowa. Ellie lives with her father and has a wonderful relationship with her nana and cousin Richard.

She desperately wants to win the largest pumpkin contest.

Battling with weight that she wants to lose, in the meantime she feeds and nurtures her giagantic pumpkin named Max that she wants to grow to 600 pounds.

Jumping through many hoops and doing anything, including talking to her pumpkin and renting a mangy dog to guard it so it won't get snatched, show more Ellie forgets the joy of the moment and a process and focuses too much on the winning.

I liked this easy, breezy book. It was just right for a day when I wanted to relax and enjoy. show less

This book is so fabulous. It's about a girl named Ellie Morgan, a high schooler who just wants to grow big, giant, HUGE PUMPKINS. It's pretty fabulous. She's 16 years old and has been growing pumpkins since she was 8. After winning the junior competition 3 times in a row, Ellie enters the adult competition and wants to win more than anything.

There's a bunch of great mini-conflicts in this book - a history teacher who just doesn't understand the importance of the pumpkin, a father who hates farming and doesn't understand his grower-daughter, a dead mother, 20 extra pounds on Ellie, not nearly enough weight on Max (that's her GIANT PUMPKIN!), a cute boy who grows corn but may or may not have a girlfriend at home, and other fabulous show more things.

Ewww!! I just saw a version of the cover with a lipstick stain! The whole book is about pumpkins, how fabulous they are, and farming. Yes, Wes is her crush, but that's because he's a farmer! That's another thing I loved about this book - it made farming and growing, something I hadn't previously been interested in, fascinating. It made me feel like I had learned a little bit about how to grow a GIANT PUMPKIN even though I actually have no idea. It helped me understand how people can want to be farmers, which I never really got - it just seemed like work that involved getting dirty and sweaty and icky in order to grow food which you could buy in a store. It didn't make sense before, but Ellie's love for her GIANT PUMPKIN MAX and how much she had to care for him and how much she loved to see him grow made sense. That girl was dedicated to Max.

I was really convinced that Wes was going to think that Ellie and her cousin, Richard, were dating, and I'm glad that he never did - that'd be too pink lit (aka teen chick lit).

One thing that I didn't like about Ellie was that she was on this diet for the entire book. Yes, she was bigger that she wanted to be. Yes, it would probably be healthier for her to be thinner. Never - not once - did she try exercising. While her diet could probably use a change - it seems like she eats a lot of ice cream - the term diet makes the whole thing so negative. Despite the fact that she liked to eat different kinds of food and even cooked for her and her father, she dieted instead of changing her diet. Even her resolve was weak - she often broke down and ate loads of sweets. Ellie's only motivation to get thin seems to be Wes, who likes her anyway. It bothered me.

I liked the ending. You'll probably like it too...

SPOILER WARNING

STOP NOW OR CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!

Ellie wins, but not because her pumpkin was bigger, but because she was a better grower. All the reporters who were writing articles on her were really happy and all, but the best part was she won because she was the better grower. She was fair and really loved her pumpkin. She was in it to compete, but loved to grow too. If this book was a movie, she'd probably get second but have tried really hard. That's a lame ending. This ending is much better.

END SPOILER WARNING

This book was fabulous, and you should love it. show less

Humor, agriculture and young love all come together in Joan Bauer's first novel, set in rural Iowa. Sixteen-year-old Ellie Morgan's life would be almost perfect if she could just get her potentially prize-winning pumpkin to put on about 200 more pounds—and if she could take off 20 herself...in hopes of attracting Wes, the new boy in town.

Sixteen year-old Ellie has spent months growing a super-sized pumpkin she calls Max. Every year the prize for biggest pumpkin goes to the town oaf, Cyril, who rubs it in everybody's face. This year, Ellie is doing all she can to make sure Max is happy and well-cared for, because winning the prize is the most important thing to her, especially when the teenaged president of the Agricultural Club is transferred to her school.

I think I like this better then Hope Was Here. The only thing was the relationship (Ellie and Wes) was centered around agriculture and all they did was try to make the pumpkin grow as well as later on corn. How can they be in a relationship and not do or talk about anything else? That aspect of the story was really weird.

This book reminded me a lot of the book Gym Candy by Carl Deuker, by which I mean it was so well written that it made me interested in something I normally have no interest in... whether football or farming. I really enjoyed this book and will certainly read the rest of Bauer's books.

A light hearted young adult novel with a truly original plot - a girl obsessed with growing a champion pumpkin. Recommend it for those teens who really don't fit in, especially those with a green thumb.