by Kayla Foushee

Everyone needs a boost of confidence every once and a while. I recently read a book that was all about confidence and self esteem. This wonderful book was about something people go through every day. It’s about how no matter what people do to fit in, if you let the people that make fun of you get to you, you’ll feel as if you aren’t good enough. This is the message of Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee.

In Artichoke’s Heart the main characters name is Rosemary and she has a problem. She’s over weight. All she’d ever wanted to do was fit in. In an attempt to fit in she asked her mother to get her this special jacket that everyone was getting. Her mother scrimps and saves to get her the jacket and they only have it in green. When she arrives at school with her new jacket and people start making fun of her and calling her ‘artichoke’ or ‘arty’ or ‘choky.’

As we move forward into Rose’s future, she hits an all time high or all time low. Rose’s weight hits 204. She decides now that she has to change something. Though her methods of losing weight may not be the best, none the less she tries. However while Rose is going through her weight problem she finds out her mother has Hodgkin’s disease. While Rose is battling with her weight, Rose’s mother is facing her disease head on.

Through Rose’s process of losing weight she gains a true friend and boy that really care about her. Rose loses her weight over a period of time but also gains confidence and caring people. "Well... when you look at a person's eyes or her smile, you can't tell how much she weighs..." (p253).Even though she loses the weight people still make fun of her but she’s at the point where she knows now that she has people that love and care about her. “Life is like an artichoke, you can only get so much at a time. I finally see that now.” (p275)

Rose goes through a lot of stuff over the course of the book, and I know that what she went through could actually happen and has happened to people out our school. I learned a valuable lesson from this book. Making fun of people is awful. Even if you think they don’t care I’m almost positive they do. Don’t judge a book by its cover because if you do you might be missing out on the most valuable lesson of your life.