Fortunately and refreshingly, the text gives Angie no weight-loss arc...A welcomingly awkward, offbeat journey for a "gay-girl gay" girl with many heartaches.
—Kirkus Reviews
In this companion to the Stonewall Award–winning Fat Angie, Angie’s girlfriend has moved away, Angie is constantly bullied as she starts as a sophomore after repeating her freshman year, her mother still can’t stand her, and her former best friend, Jamboree, is back in town...it’s still good to see Angie, a very human combination of neuroses, fears, truths, and desires, break through some of her defenses and take risks, from singing to loving.
—Publishers Weekly
Although familiar road-trip tropes appear—the airing of grievances, past histories, new friendships, hints of romance—the story has a force and freshness, thanks to the dynamic third-person narration, a welcome change from the ubiquitous first-person voice of YA novels. There is an intensity to the story that makes no attempt to quell or disguise Angie's fury and depression, yet is full of humor. An engrossing read, uncomfortable in the best possible way.
—Booklist
Angie’s grief arc is credible and even laudable, especially as she focuses her anger on apt targets this time instead of herself. Readers will need to be familiar with the first book (Fat Angie, BCCB 4/13) to understand the full details of her previous year, but the multiple references allow readers to infer the basis for her emotional state and follow and applaud her progress from victim to rebel.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
A sequel to Stonewall Book Award Winner Fat Angie, e.E Charlton-Trujillo’s Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution finds Angie grappling with a new set of circumstances. Quick, compelling prose propels the often poignant narrative about one girl’s perseverance despite suffering.
—Foreword Reviews
e.E. Charlton-Trujillo does an amazing job portraying her entire cast of characters, making each of them seem fully realized and distinct. She handles issues of mental illness, grief, loneliness, and even the cringe-inducing abuse and bullying that Angie suffers with deftness and grace. More importantly, Charlton-Trujillo allows space for hope and strength in Angie’s story while avoiding the neat packaging of a happily ever after. As Angie realizes, “her life…was never going to be a made-for-television Christmas movie…but it was hers,” which, in the end, is all any of us can hope for.
—Lambda Literary (blog)
Charlton-Trujillo's approach to telling Angie's story fits perfectly with her main character's thoughts, and a lot of those thoughts are dark and angry because Angie's life is filled those things. Happily, Angie is remarkably resilient, and there's enough humor, love, and adventure to balance the pain...There are many great observations in FAT ANGIE, and many lessons about grieving, friendships, and self-love.
—YA Books Central (blog)
This isn’t a pretty story; it’s a gutsy genuine story that teens of all sizes and struggles will relate to.
—Miss Marple's Musings (blog)
01/14/2019
In this companion to the Stonewall Award–winning Fat Angie, Angie’s girlfriend has moved away, Angie is constantly bullied as she starts as a sophomore after repeating her freshman year, her mother still can’t stand her, and her former best friend, Jamboree, is back in town. On the verge of suspension and being sent to a treatment facility/gay-conversion program, Angie hits the road with Jamboree and squabbling cousins Zeke and Darius as she tries to live out her late sister’s last wishes, communicated to her in a final letter. Although Charlton’s writing style takes some getting used to—ideas are underscored more than once (Angie is “gay-girl gay”; her mom is Angie’s “couldn’t-understand” mother) and there is a lot of telling (the ceremony honoring Angie’s sister is described as “the afternoon Angie had dreaded for months!”)—it’s still good to see Angie, a very human combination of neuroses, fears, truths, and desires, break through some of her defenses and take risks, from singing to loving. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)
03/01/2019
Gr 8 Up—Angie is surrounded by memories of her sister. Her "can't-understand mother" has made sure their town will never forget Angie's sister's sacrifice in service to her country. Angie faces bullying at school because of her weight, sexuality, and a past suicide attempt. When usually soft-spoken Angie is suspended from school for breaking her tormentor's nose, her mother considers sending her to an inpatient treatment facility. Emboldened by a letter from her late sister, Angie defies her mother and embarks on a journey to fulfill her sister's last wish. Readers hoping for a road trip story may be disappointed, as the fated trip does not begin until halfway through the novel. There are graphic descriptions of Angie's assault by her school tormentors, but Angie remains a fairly flat, nondescript protagonist. With near-constant references to Angie's weight, her internal references to "Fat Angie" chief among them, readers may find this book to be depressing rather than empowering. Give teens Julie Murphy's Dumplin' or Amy Spalding's The Summer of Jordi Perez instead. VERDICT Purchase only where the first volume is popular.—Jenni Frencham, Indiana University
2018-12-09
When everything's awful inside and out, how can you take the bull by the horns?
Angie's girlfriend has moved away. Angie's war-hero sister was killed by terrorists in Iraq (Fat Angie, 2013, etc.), and glossy local and national tributes leave Angie alone and confused in her grief. Angie's mother mourns "the good one" of her children, restricts Angie's food, and threatens Angie with gay conversion therapy. When Angie breaks a bully's nose in self-defense, witnesses lie and Angie faces legal prosecution. Depression, anxiety, panic, betrayal—how can Angie get out from under? A road trip—emotionally messy and awkward, with an ex-friend who ghosted her, one of the lying witnesses, and someone who films everything. With legal prosecution and conversion therapy looming, Angie stumbles her way through a road trip itinerary left by her dead sister. Charlton-Trujillo's mildly unorthodox prose style features extra hyphens ("surprising-not-surprising," "loud-loud," Angie's "couldn't-understand mother"). While less funny than Fat Angie, this has hilarious moments: If a sign says, "DO NOT FLUSH / FEMININE FEMALE PRODUCTS," could you flush a "butch tampon"? Angie's white; her fellow RV-ers are a racially diverse group. Fortunately and refreshingly, the text gives Angie no weight-loss arc; unfortunately, the use of fatness as a misery symbol throughout dilutes the explicit self-acceptance ending.
A welcomingly awkward, offbeat journey for a "gay-girl gay" girl with many heartaches. (Fiction. 12-16)
