Artichoke's Heart

Rosemary Goode works constantly in her mama's beauty salon in Spring Hill, Tennessee, makes great grades and rarely gives her mother any trouble. But nothing she says or does can ever clear up the shadow that accompanies her like a shroud -- her weight. At 15, Rosie's 200-pound frame prevents her from forming close friendships and subjects her to the tireless taunts of classmate Misty Winters. Though Rosie objectively thinks about being thin, the treadmill her mother got her for Christmas is currently functioning as an overpriced laundry rack.

So how do things start changing? When her mother's strangled coughing fits turn out to be far scarier than a common cold. When Kay-Kay Reese, former popularity queen, is ostracized from her show more clucking group of popular Bluebirds -- and turns to Rosie for comfort. When ridiculously cute jock Kyle Cox begins giving her furitive glances, his face turning pink with embarrassment as he smiles at her.

When Rosie finally wants to change.

I guess it's cliche to say Artichoke's Heart is about so much more than the quest to be thin, but I'm going to say it anyway . . . because this is a novel with serious heart. As much as I wanted to pluck the delicious-looking confections off the front cover, I didn't want to the book to end even more. Supplee's descriptions of the magnetic pull food has for Rosie felt familiar to me -- it's like that free-falling experience of love. And even if you're fortunate enough to never have had weight troubles, I doubt there's anyone in the world who wouldn't relate to Rosie in some way. (Especially with her penchant for reading the poetry of Emily Dickinson!)

Rosemary's voice is fresh, funny and irreverant, and her sense of humor about high school and her body is what catapults the plotline along. She was a decidedly unwhiny narrator, and thank God for that! I don't think I could have stood 270-odd pages of griping. Even when Rosie felt sorry for herself initially -- hey, she is 15; I wouldn't expect anything else -- she's not running around the room, throwing confetti at her own pity party. She decides to change -- not only for her mother and sniping Aunt Mary, but for herself. I could feel the transformation happening and I felt transformed, too.

So many big issues are addressed without Supplee ever painting the story with a broad, heavy brush. Rosie's relationship with her mother Rose Warren is complicated, worsened by her mother's deteroriating health, but felt honest. When I was just a little older than Rosie, I also struggled with the illness of a parent -- and could really relate to what she was experiencing. The fear, the nervousness, the waiting . . . it's all part of the sad game the sickness plays on you. I read on Supplee's website about her first-hand experience of her mother's illness, and you can definitely tell her writing comes from a tender place. I knew that she knew -- that she really understood.

That's what really made the novel for me -- this book felt real. We all know a Rosemary -- or have felt like Rosemary at some point in our lives. Again, it is about the weight . . . but it's not about the weight. It's about choosing who we're going to become regardless of who we may have been. It's about making ourselves. And I absolutely loved this inspirational tale, fantastic for teenage girls -- and their not-so-teenage counterparts alike.

(For a shockingly even longer review, visit write meg!) show less

Reviewed by Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen for TeensReadToo.com

Rosemary Goode is smart, funny, and sassy, but no one seems to notice. All anyone sees is her weight - all 200 pounds of it. She doesn't fit in at school, she finds herself getting made fun of by the popular Bluebirds, and the only boyfriend she'll ever have is Mr. Hershey, or Mr. M&M.

At the start of a new year, Rosemary finds herself disappointed. Santa just brought her an unwanted treadmill for Christmas and her Aunt Mary gave her tickets to a "Healing the Fat Girl Within" Conference. On top of that, Rosemary's mother has sneakily set up counseling sessions for weight loss.

After a meltdown at her mother's gossipy salon, Rosemary decides she is going to lose the show more weight - on her terms. Rosemary tries various methods to lose weight, but it's a slow process. When Rosemary's mother is diagnosed with cancer, the distance between them grows even more and Rosemary tries to keep from turning back to food. Things start to look up when Kyle Cox, the school's newest football star, starts to take a notice in Rosemary. But how can popular, good-looking Kyle ever like a girl like Rosemary? And how will Rosemary bridge the ever-growing gap between her and her mother?

ARTICHOKE'S HEART is one of those books I wanted to stay in bed on a rainy day with and never stop reading. The cover and storyline may make you think this is light chick-lit, but the plot digs much deeper and carries a wide range of emotions that are great for any mood.

Rosemary is a fantastic character and her growth throughout the book is realistic. I was cheering her on the whole way through and felt as though I was on the journey with her. I also have to admit I had a bit of a crush on Kyle while reading this book! Author Suzanne Supplee put so much into her characters; they felt real and I didn't want to leave them. The Southern setting added an extra dose of charm to the story. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future! show less

Blubber meets Steel Magnolias in this funny and honest story about body image and family.

Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low profile. Rosemary resolves to lose the weight, but her journey turns out to be about everything but the scale. Her life-changing, waist-shrinking year is captured with brutal honesty and humor, topped with an extralarge helping of Southern charm. A truly uncommon novel about an increasingly common problem. From Amazon US

This was such a great story! Oh, I loved it on so show more many levels! Just so sweet and uplifting! Such an amazing story!

Reading the blurb, you would think that Artichoke's Heart is just about Rosie losing weight, and while that is what it's about, it's about so much more too! There are so many layers to this novel! It's also about friendship, romance, family, community, expectations... I could go on! Each of the layers does link to Rosie's weight issues in some way, but they also stand on their own. Will Rosie's unlikely friendship with a popular girl end up turning sour? Is there any chance the new jock could ever look at her? Will her aunt ever get off her back and stop being so insulting? Will her mother allow someone to help her take on the world? Will her mother's clients stop looking at her in that way? Will she end up making decisions for the right reasons, rather than because of other people? A lot goes on in this novel, but it's never chaotic. It all adds to the story, it all effects the main plot, and you're invested in finding out the answers to all the questions.

I loved how Rosie's attitude changed as the book progressed. I can't really go into this without spoiling the book, but there's a number of times where Rosie would realise something just doesn't matter, or she'd see things a different way, or someone would say something to her that opened her eyes. In some of these instances, even my attitude was changed. There is nothing more fantastic than reading a novel and having it change your perspective for the better and make you view yourself differently. This has happened a number of times for me over the course of Body Image and Self-Perception Month and I just love it! Even though I can't relate to Rosie's weight issues, I can relate to her general insecurities, and it's just wonderful to have been "helped" by Rosie's story.

I also loved the language! This story is set in the south, and being from the UK, at first the language was a bit odd to read Rosie refering to her mum as Mother all the way through the book, calling a woman she was close to Miss Bertha rather than just Bertha, and the colloquial spellings for the southern twang. However, the more I read, the more I loved it! I do love a southern accent, and it just ended up sounding really cute in my head.

There is so much I could say about this book, I could gush on forever, but I think a lot of it would be better discovered in your own reading - I really don't want to spoil this fantastic book for you! I do absolutely love it, and I will be reading more novels by Suzanne Supplee in future. You definitely need to pick this book up.

I'm going to leave you with one quote from the book that has stuck with me, "Well... when you look at a person's eyes or her smile, you can't tell how much she weighs..." (p253)

From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog. show less

Artichoke's Heart

Rosemary Goode is an over weight teen. She lives with her Mother who owns the local Hair salon in a small Tennessee town. When she notices Kyle Cox, a basketball player her life starts to change.

Rosemary's problems are true to life. Being overweight, the struggles she goes through at school, at home, and trying to fit in. I liked Rosemary, she is sarcastic, snarky, and has a great sense of humor.

Kyle is very likable as well. He is not the typical (stereotypical "jock"), and I really like that quality in him. The relationship between Rosemary's Mother and (her) Aunt is also one that is true to life.

Suzanne Supplee knows how to grab the readers attention, hitting real life problem with accurate details. The story flowed show more perfectly, the characters are well developed and the plot is true to life.

I feel that Artichoke's Heart is perfect for young adults (as well as adult) readers. There is a very good message in this story, it is not all about losing weight, it is also about, self evaluation, self worth, family and rediscovery.

Fantastic. I loved it. show less

Book talk:
It's not that Rosie is an ungrateful, materialistic 15 year-old. In fact, I would bet most girls her age, given the same gifts as Rosie, would think this was the year that Christmas sucked the most. Her mom did spend $700 on her, but now she has a treadmill in her bedroom to further remind her that she is fat. And like Rosie will tell anyone willing to listen (and there aren't many), "I don't walk three blocks when I actually WANT to get somewhere, much less run three miles on a strip of black rubber only to end up where I started out in the first place." Then her meddling aunt Mary gave her "two stupid diet books" and tickets for the three of them to go to the "Healing the Fat Girl Within" conference. Talk about a waste of show more $150! Her mother refuses to take her side in the battles against nosy Aunt Mary because, as she puts it, "She means well."
With no friends at school to turn to, Rosie finds comfort in the "secret lovers" hidden away in her room, actually, stashed under her bed: Mr. Hershey, Mr. Reeses, and Mr. M&M. When she is not working at her mother's beauty salon, she is suffocating her misery with food. What could make life worse for Rosie? The cruel taunts by the popular girls in the Bluebird Club? Having a crush on the star of all the high school athletic teams and knowing he could never like you? No, it would have to be finding out your mom has cancer. Sound depressing? Nope! Rosemary is funny, smart, sincere, and the kind of girl that would make a great friend, AND, yes, girlfriend too! show less

I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced copy of this book and knew I had to read it from the cover alone-how cute is that cover?? I was a little unsure I would like it, never having been a fat girl myself, so I wasn't sure I could relate, but I gave a try anyway. I am so glad I did-I loved this book! Any reader of any size or age can get something from this book.
ARTICHOKE'S HEART is one of those books I wanted to stay in bed on a rainy day with and never stop reading.
The cover and storyline may make you think this is light chick-lit, but the plot digs much deeper and carries a wide
range of emotions that are great for any mood.

Rosemary is a fantastic character and her growth throughout the book is realistic. I was cheering show more her on the whole
way through and felt as though I was on the journey with her. I also have to admit I had a bit of a crush on Kyle
while reading this book! Author Suzanne Supplee put so much into her characters; they felt real and I didn’t want to
leave them. The Southern setting added an extra dose of charm to the story. I’m looking forward to reading more
from this author in the future! show less

The reason I love this YA book so much is because even though the plot is about a girl who is overweight, you can relate with her no matter what size you are. This truly is a great comfort book, it gives you all the mushy feelings of romance and the joy of hearing how the protagonist, Rosemary Goode, loses and gains control of her life. This book was actually a relatively realistic for a YA book, it wasn’t too perfect and by end of the book, Rose hasn’t all of a sudden gone popular and gotten to her ideal weight, showing readers that overcoming something like weight isn’t something that will just be a quick fix. Who’s never had a bully, or at least who’s never just felt self-conscious about them selves? I usually don’t get show more all mushy over a book but by the end I was nearly in tears (happy tears) over how she overcame such a big obstacle, I would highly reccomend it.I would have to say that a few things she did were disturbing, like the way she initially tries to lose weight, so I wouldn't recommend this if you are sensitive to those kind of things. show less