Slob

Owen Birnbaum is a kid with a story, but all most of his classmates know about him is that he’s fat. His weight combined with his way-above-average intelligence makes him a target for bullies; in fact, even his P.E. coach looks for opportunities to humiliate him in front of his peers. Owen’s refuge is his home, where his mom and sister love him no matter what, where his neighbor Nima is a true friend, and where he can hole up in his room for hours at a time to work on his massive electronic project called Nemesis.

Owen is convinced that if he gets Nemesis to work, it will show him exactly what he needs to know to fix his life. But a small mystery (missing Oreos) blows up into a complicated and unexpected turn of events, leading Owen show more to consider ideas he hasn’t thought about before, both about himself and about the people close to him.

The reader has another question to solve as well – what in the world has happened to Owen in his past? Clues surface a little bit at a time so that the story reads like a good mystery.

Grown-up portion of review:

Didn't include this on the official library review, but one of the characters in the book can be interpreted in a couple different but important ways. Owen's sister Caitlin goes by Jeremy, dresses like a boy, and is a member of a club called GWAB - Girls Who Are Boys. In other reviews, this has been described as a group of "tomboys;" and certainly little girls who prefer clothes and activities traditionally associated with boys could stand to see themselves represented a little more often and more positively in books. But another interpretation, and I don't think I'm reaching here, is that the GWAB members are transgendered. The writing is ambiguous about the specifics, which I think is a positive thing. Girls of all stripes will see themselves in this story, accepted and courageous and expanding the definition of normal. show less

Reviewed by Natalie Tsang for TeensReadToo.com

Ellen Potter's SLOB is as delicious as its main character's beloved Oreo cookies (more on the cookies later). Things are not going well for twelve-year-old Owen Birnbaum. Even if you're one point from having a genius IQ, there are still some problems that are almost impossible to solve.

Owen's 57% fatter than the national average, which is bad enough, but after he embarrasses his gym teacher, Mr. Woolsey is out for revenge. Plus, someone is stealing his Oreos, which is the only thing that makes his school lunch of tofu and tea bearable. Owen suspects it's the school sociopath who keeps a switch blade in his sock.

Some people would shrug and say that's how the cookie crumbles, but not Owen. show more He's not a quitter. Admittedly, he's not much of a fighter either, but he's great at inventing contraptions to solve his problems. For over a year now, he's been building a TV that can see into the past.

While Owen tries utilizing his sleuthing skills to get to the bottom of the Oreo mystery, readers also have to discover exactly why he's spent the last two years trying to look into the past. The characters are full of quirks like Nima the Buddhist who sells momos in front of the Museum of Natural History, and Jeremy, Owen's little sister, who insists on dressing and acting like a boy.

Ellen Potter manages to keep the perfect balance between dark, gritty cookie and smooth, sweet cream. Being a kid, especially being Owen Birnbaum, is no joke, at least not in the hardy-har way. Though Owen is inevitably the butt of some jokes, his own witty and wry observations make his adversaries seem like amateurs. I found myself laughing plenty at the insanity of grownups, both well-meaning and diabolical, of sixth grade feminist groups, and kid sisters.

This is a book that doesn't make being a kid seem like either a cakewalk or a prison sentence. Five stars! show less

First, just take a look at that cover. What comes to mind? Looking at the cover, you think you know what this book is about, but you don't.

"A three-story red-brick nightmare of educational progress." (p.2)

That's how Owen Birnbaum introduces us to school, his school at least. At Owen's school students can determine their own "educational progress" by studying whatever floats their boat at the moment.

Being the smartest kid in the school, and now the fattest, brings problems for Owen, even at such a progressive school. Someone has been stealing his Oreos and his PE teacher, Mr. Wooly, is determined to humiliate him. Owen wasn't always fat and he wishes he could go back to the moment that changed everything for him. Owen believes that his show more latest invention will allow him to do just that, if he can get it to work!

Using the note with the word SLOB written on it as inspiration, Owen works to uncover the cookie thief and find the missing piece to his invention. With the help of his sister, Jeremy, he has almost figured out how to uncover exactly what happened that night almost 2 years ago.

Ellen Potter is genius. I was totally captivated by the language in this book. It was funny without being stupid. "It made me feel squirrelly in my stomach. But maybe I was just hungry." (p. 29) I think this book will appeal to both boys and girls at our school and will use it for book club in the fall. It's a great middle grade read with potential as a good read-aloud. The references to old TV shows will also appeal to teachers/librarians who may have watched those shows growing up. Jeremy's participation in Girls Who Are Boys, GAWB, will resonate with the tomboys. And Mr. Wooly? I had a teacher just like that and, unfortunately, some of them still exist today. Students will see that. They will get it. It will be a great discussion. I can't wait! I give it 5 stars. show less

Owen Birnbaum is not a genius. He's one I.Q. point shy of genius, but his adoptive mother won't let him tell people that anymore. Like many classic boy geniuses, Owen is working on a secret project, Nemisis. Owen's theory is that Nemisis will pick up television signals that have been sent into space and bounced back to earth by nearby stars. Since it takes several years for television signals to make this journey, Nemisis should make it possible to watch transmissions from the past, a visual time machine.

There is a certain signal in particular that Owen wants to find, the one from the security camera in his parents deli. Owen's parents forgot to replace the tape in the security system the night they were murdered. Because of this, the show more perpetrators were never caught. If Owen can find the signal, maybe justice can be done at last.

Owen is also fat, the fattest boy in his class. And someone is stealing the three Oreo cookies his mother puts in his lunch bag each day. Meantime, Owen's little sister has joined a group of girls called GWAB, (Girls who are Boys) taken on the name Jeremy and started dressing as a boy.

Slob is a gentle sort of book. While the issues it deals with are heavy--grief, bullying, gender identity, body issues-- the resolution is entirely hopeful and even the book's worst villains aren't all that bad in the end. (Owen is even able to find some peace with his parents' murder.) Slob is an entertaining book that will probably satisfy most young readers. I've a group of seventh grade boys currently reading it for their book club who all like it so far. show less

******** SPOILERS CONTAINED WITHIN *********
Twelve year old Owen says he is the fattest kid in school. He has apparently gained all this weight in the past 2 years. His sister, 11-year-old Jeremy (real name Caitlin), has joined gwab (girls who are boys). The book hints at the father's death but 2/3 the way through drops the bombshell that both parents were killed in a shooting. The woman who Owen calls Mom (and who has indeed adopted the siblings) is really the 911 operator he spoke to when he called after hearing the shots. Owen is quite brilliant and is working on a device to replay the shooting so he can identify his parents shooter. All this sounds quite tragic but it does not read that way. Initially, the story arc revolves around show more Owen trying to find the person stealing his oreo cookies. He jumps to some wrong conclusions and learns a thing or two about himself. show less

I didn't enjoy this very much because one of the main plot points was completely unbelievable, while the rest of it was realistic. Basically, it's about a 12-year-old overweight boy who has to deal with bullies every day at school. At the same time, he's working on an invention to deal with a separate sadness in his life.

The are several interesting plot twists in the story, but they all came fast in the end. Potter's style is to introduce intriguing details and then wait a few chapters to explain them. For example, I was interested in the main character's sister, named Jeremy. Potter later reveals that her real name is Caitlin, but she changed it when she joined a group at school called GWAB, which we learn later stands for Girls Who show more Are Boys.

So this book's main selling point is that nothing in the story is what it seems. Even the title, which seems to be about Owen's weight problem, is really about something completely different. show less

Owen's mom puts three Oreos in his lunch every day. That's the deal: he won't sneak extra snacks, but those Oreos are something to look forward to. And he's really looking forward to them after a particularly sadistic gym class--only to find that someone's stolen them from his lunch bag. He'll have to come up with some way to catch the thief, but that will divert time away from the true invention he's been working on, something that will finally explain the big mystery in his past.

Mostly I liked this a lot--engaging narrator, well-paced unfolding of several mysteries--though there were some plot holes that bugged me. I should be able to sell it to middle-schoolers without much challenge.