A Different Me

A Different Me 
Deborah Blumenthal

Ah, high school, where things are not always as they seem, and even beautiful people have problems. Allie Johnston is self absorbed about her nose. She wants rhinoplasty in the worst way, but can't even talk about the possibility with friends, let alone family.
Among the cast of characters are the beautiful rich girl who is a model; a make-up wearing boy who constantly makes people uncomfortable and even mad by taking photos at inopportune moments; a pair of fellow nose-hating teens met in an online chat room who meet in person with Allie to form a support group; a needy bff who grows more distant as Allie befriends others; and parents who seemingly analyze any major purchase ad nauseam before acting.
Most events are centered around school or school activities. When the English teacher assigns smart kids to mentor the those failing, conflict ensues as layer after layer of secrets about characters are revealed. 
The speech teacher also propels the revelations in the story.

All in all, a solid offering about learning to be happy with yourself and not being too quick to judge others who are different, all in a non-threatening, refreshingly non-didactic manner. It's that rare book with high school age characters, yet suitable for readers as young as sixth grade. 

Reading “A Different Me” was like reading a story about that one particular problem every person goes through in life; feeling insecure about their looks. Allie Johnson is a normal teenage girl with a normal teenage life except she doesn’t like her nose. Ever since she was a preteen, she felt the need to get a nose job. She didn’t want to speak about it with her parents or best friend in fear that they just wouldn’t “get her”. At school, she’s obsessed with Amber, the most popular girl at school, since she believes Amber is blessed with beauty.

When Allie finds an online chat room made up of people who also want nose jobs, she feels as if she’s found her place in the world. Later, she becomes close friends with Kat and Mel, two girls in the chat room. They all want to do nose jobs but for completely different reasons. I don’t want to give away too much of the story but when I read about Kat’s story I really didn’t know what to think. I don’t know what it’s like to endure such a situation but I don’t disagree with her when she decides to get a nose job to rid herself of that memory. It’s also amusing how the trio change over the course of the book.

Allie is probably the most realistic character I’ve read about in a very long time. The emotions she experienced and the way she reacted to people were just so genuine. Her parents were open-minded towards her decision to do the surgery and really supportive. Still, I didn’t quite agree with them. Allie is like what? Fifteen years old? She hasn’t even fully experienced puberty and she wants to change her appearance. Even though her parents tried to encourage her to wait until she was older, they still caved and allowed her to do her own thing. I realized that they just wanted to give her space to grow and mature but what if she did the surgery and regretted it? What if something went horribly wrong? Were they really willing to take the risk just to allow their daughter to “come into her own”? That’s just ludicrous.

Thankfully, life happened and Allie realized that she didn’t have to do surgery to gain acceptance or to become beautiful. Before her surgery she decided to go through family albums to see if any of her relatives had the same nose as her. After looking for a while and not finding a picture close enough to show anyone’s nose, she came across an old picture of her mother on the beach in a conservative bikini. Her mother was doing a silly pose and practically glowing with the same nose Allie has. Allie quickly found her mother and asked her if she ever felt weird because of her nose. Then, her mother told her that life was different when she was younger and that good relationships help to mold you into the person you were meant to be. It’s obvious that Allie didn’t really take this profound statement to heart but it certainly did help in changing her mind.

I’m pretty sure that David also had something to do with the way she saw herself too. David is the kind of person that also changes his outward appearance with makeup but for a completely different reason. When he shared his reason with Allie and the rest of their English class through a speech, I knew for sure that he’d made a lasting impression on everyone. I also knew that Allie didn’t change her mind because David was the only guy to really notice her and to call her beautiful but it was the relationship she formed with him. He gave her the motivation to be who she is rather than outwardly change herself.

I also found it fascinating how media was a prominent part of the novel. Allie admitted to not being the type of person who went through teen magazines doing quizzes on self-assessment but I’m pretty sure she and the rest of the world are subjected to society’s view of beauty everyday through television, magazines, billboards, etc. Media keeps telling people to strive for perfection when the truth is that perfection is unattainable. In one of my previous classes at school, my lecturer told us that perfection is whatever the media says it is and they’ll always tell you that you aren’t perfect so that you’ll keep buying their products. However, I’ve heard that Sacha Mineral Powder Foundation works like a second skin and is just $20! Isn’t that a small price to pay for a more beautiful you?

Rating: 9.5/10

Book Info:

Publisher: Albert Whitman Teen (September 1, 2014)
Source: Netgalley ARC Genre: Young Adult Completed: September 2014

This was a really great book about a girl who is obsessed with having her nose “done”.

Allie is 15 years old and all of her insecurities revolve around the fact that she has a bump in her nose. She wants desperately to have a nose job but hasn’t told her parents. She joins a plastic surgery forum and meets two girls who feel the same. They become good friends. After the second friend has her surgery, Allie finally talks to her parents who agree that she can also have the surgery.

While all this is going on, Allie is assigned to tutor the most popular, beautiful girl in school. An unlikely friendship is born. After Amber’s mother has some depression issues and Amber is pulled out of school, Allie is given David as a fellow student to mentor. Another unlikely friendship is born.

I love how Allie grew through these two friendships and, after seeing how she looked to other people, was able to see herself more clearly.

I think this is a well written, positive book of growth and highly recommend it! :-)