Bathing Ugly - Softcover

Busselle, Rebecca

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440209218 ISBN 13: 9780440209218

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 1991

Synopsis

Chosen to compete in the camp's bathing ugly contest because of her weight, Betsy decides to push the idea to its limit and force the campers to rethink their ideas about the importance of outward appearance.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8 The Bathing Ugly prize is the dubious counterpart to the Bathing Beauty prize awarded at the end of ten weeks at Camp Sunny Days, where Betsy Sherman, 13, is spending her summer. Pampered by her doting parents, Betsy has been a cheerful outsider, burying her disappointments in the joys of eating. But Camp Sunny Days, run by a faded beauty queen, is a place of both organized and casual cruelty to those who do not possess physical beauty. Betsy quickly realizes that not only is she overweight, but she also meets few other of the camp's criteria for beauty. Through first-person narration, readers meet Betsy's allies and tormentors, watch her diet intentions and dreams of instant beauty fall apart, and, in a dramatic finale, watch Betsy turn the "winning" of the Bathing Ugly award into a triumph. Busselle captures the emotions of self-conscious pre-teens superbly. The humiliation of a public weighing, the camp latrine, and the ragging that Betsy takes at the hands of an older camper are painfully and accurately described. Although many camp stories are available, the strong characterization with emphasis on Betsy's growth and the focus on self-concept make this a particularly good example of this genre. While the theme is similar to Brock Cole's The Goats (Farrar, 1987), Bathing Ugly is for a younger audience, who will take a great deal of satisfaction in Betsy's unique triumph over her tormentors. Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

Overweight Betsy, 13, learns some important truths about herself and her seemingly self-possessed camp-mates; in PW 's words, "Readers will appreciate the realistic results of Betsy's unreal expectations, and the author's resisting of pat solutions." Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Laurel Leaf
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0440209218
• ISBN 13: 9780440209218
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback