My Big Nose (And Other Natural Disasters) by Sydney Salter (review by Bella Aire)

Synopsis:
It’s the end of junior year, and summer is about to begin. The Summer of Passion, to be exact, when Jory Michaels plans to explore all the possibilities of the future--and, with any luck, score a boyfriend in the process. But Jory has a problem. A big problem. A curvy, honking, bumpy, problem in the form of her Super Schnozz, the one thing standing between Jory and happiness. And now, with the Summer of Passion stretched before her like an open road, she's determined for Super Schnozz to disappear. Jory takes a job delivering wedding cakes to save up for a nose job at the end of the summer; she even keeps a book filled with magazine cutouts of perfect noses to show the doctor. But nothing is ever easy for accident-prone Jory--and before she knows it, her Summer of Passion falls apart faster than the delivery van she crashes. In her hilarious and heartbreaking debut novel, Sydney Salter delivers a story about broadening your horizons, accepting yourself, and finding love right under your nose.

Review:

My Big Nose (And Other Natural Disasters) is a heartfelt and hilarious tale of one teen’s torments and troubles.

At first I was worried that Jory, the narrator, would be a whiny/angsty/cliché teen…but I didn’t have to worry long. Jory’s sarcastic marks were witty and her concerns genuine, if somewhat exaggerated. The author (Sydney Salter) proves her genius in the awkward but side-splitting situations that Jory finds herself in throughout the novel.

Not one to shirk on relationships, Salter thoroughly develops the familial, camaraderie, and romantic based connections in My Big Nose. The male characters are an absolute delight- each one with a distinct and unique personality.

Jory’s preoccupation with her features can be sometimes overwhelming and off-putting. However, with the external obsession that society displays today, it does not come off as a far-fetched plot point. Though I felt that the nose-fixation dragged at points in the novel and sometimes distracted from the amusing tales of Jory’s summer, beauty fixation is an important issue that needs to be addressed to reverse much of the damage that modern magazines and “perfect girl” images have done to female teens. Jory’s interaction with her mother moved me most regarding the beauty topic.

Wrapping up with a superb and beautiful ending, My Big Nose was truly a lovely coming-of-age novel.

always,

~bella aire~

Purchase My Big Nose (And Other Natural Disasters) here.