Fum

Gr 9 Up—Once upon a time in the magically realistic State of Illinois, Corinthia Bledsoe must come to terms with how she is different. Aside from her size, which is in the neighborhood of eight feet tall, Corinthia sees visions of tornadoes, cows deposited in the sanctuary of the school's field house, and a flock of Canada geese that proceed to destroy the sacred football field. Through it all, Corinthia tries to maintain a sense of normalcy; if such can be achieved in a world populated with characters possessing names like Denton Smock and Margo Ticonderoga. Her woes are told in such beautifully crafted—if somewhat preoccupied with genitalia—prose and nuanced, quirky observations that readers will find themselves pausing to think about, and some will even begin to dig for a suspected, deeper allegorical meaning. To augment this lovely tale about the struggles of being different in high school, Rapp adds the subplot of Billy Ball, as told to "Dave," Billy's diary. He's small, and has a condition that renders him flatulent, but not in the funny way characteristic of Don Calame's stories. Though opposite in many ways, the two characters share the very real pain of being "different" in an environment where differences are not safe and where adults allow social predation to continue.