Customer Reviews

Fruit

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wonderful and strange novel about an overweight teenaged boy whose nipples talk to him. Sounds weird, right? And it is, but it's also gut-wrenchingly honest and open, and any kid who's ever struggled with a weight problem (or with a sexual identity crisis, for that matter), will completely relate to thirteen year-old Peter Paddington. Horrified by his huge nipples (or, as they'd call them on Seinfeld, "man boobs"), which he's sure all the kids can see through his tee-shirt, Peter starts by wrapping his chest in loops of masking tape. But as his nipples start to become raw and sore, he begins imagining that they are making fun of him for being so ashamed of himself, and yearning to be set free. Just about this same time, Peter starts to realize he's not like the other boys -- that he's just not attracted to girls. But he doesn't have any concept of what that means. Does that mean he's a freak? He sure feels like a freak. A fat, stupid freak. As time passes and his nipples keep voicing the thoughts that are deep down in his head, Peter slowly begins to come to terms with himself, and to learn how to overcome the things he can beat (like his weight problem) and embrace the things that just make him HIM. This novel is totally sweet and funny and gentle. I loved every word and can't wait for more from this new Canadian author.

Fruit is funny and clever. It's a remarkably quick read, though the prose doesn't suffer for it.

Our narrator, Peter, goes through his last year of life before entering high school by delivering papers, indulging in weird fantasies, spending time with his foul-mouthed neighbor, seeing the Virgin Mary in the woodwork of his closet door, and struggling with his weight, his inflamed nipples, and his family.

Written in first person, the book reads as Peter's immediate thoughts, focusing on narrating his life, but frequently drifting to tangents and fantasies of being popular and loved. The book is infused with a great sense of humor which grows out of Peter's weird friends and family and also his own naiveté about the world and himself. As Peter himself isn't ready to face some of the realities he needs to, the book deftly touches on several issues without coming to neatly-wrapped and false-feeling conclusions.

Peter Paddington is not an ordinary adolescent, concerned about girlfriends and a few facial blemishes or whether to lose a pound or two. No, in Peter's little corner of Sarnia, Canada, he is worried about a boyfriend and fifty pounds (or more) and the fact that part of his anatomy has begun speaking to him (always giving bad advice, at that). Trapped in his corpulent body, when not binding his developing (and talking) chest with masking tape or examining the weird places where body hair has suddenly sprouted, Peter agonizes over ever having the courage to go on a diet and become "the new and improved Peter Paddington".

Surrounded by an enabling, if well-meaning family, Peter's cause is hampered by an emotionally inept father and two older sisters, who heap scorn upon their younger brother. Unfortunately, each time Peter works up the determination to start a diet, he is sabotaged by the well-meaning efforts of a mother who whisper/screams and turns a blind eye to her son's problems. Every day filled with self-loathing, deprecation and humiliation, compensation is in order, hence Peter's imaginative "Bedtime Movies", little vignettes he imagines to lull himself to sleep.

Peter's school has its own social hierarchy, specific groups like the Athlete Group, the Short group, the Geek group, the Goody-Goody Group, the Indian Group and the Banger Group. Peter is intimidated by most of these categories, especially the Banger group, who consider him an object for their amusement. Viewed metaphorically, Peter has a surplus of social adjustment issues.

As he bumbles into his fourteenth year, Peter's overactive imagination comes in handy for strategizing a life plan, his greatest challenge hovering on the horizon. His incipient, life-altering sexual orientation at issue, this kid is nowhere near ready to be counted out; Peter Paddington is headed for a spectacular coming out. Luan Gaines/2004

Peter Paddington is an overweight 13-year-old paperboy...with man-boobs. Any guys who have struggled with their weight as a teenager knows it's just downright embarrassing to be cursed with man-boobs.



What's even worse is that Peter has imaginary conversations with his nipples. His nipples are telling him what to do even to the point of daring him.



Peter is just a fat paperboy who is just not quite like the other guys. He isn't into sports, which is a disappointment for his dad. He rather be in Home Ec. class. He trades stickers with the girls. He has fantasies about the cute married man across the street. He "makes sperm" with the showerhead. Can you say gay? However, *Fruit* doesn't really dwell much on homosexuality but rather implies it. More like we all know he's gay but he doesn't know it himself.



His goal is to be skinny and normal like the other guys by the time he hits 9th grade in the Fall. However, he keeps postponing the day that he'll really start the diet. He has to deal with his family. His mother is going through The Change. His father is just distant. His sisters are fighting more than usual. His embarrassing and talkative Uncle Ed keeps hanging around.



*Fruit* is a simple read with some occasional humor. The talking nipples is just really odd as having man-boobs is already embarrassing enough.

Fruit is a funny, definitively Canadian novel with distinct, understandable characters, despite their limited time on the pages.

This book was enjoyable. The characters were very real to life. Funny !!