"Fat Chance, Charlie Vega" Part Two

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This time, I will be looking at the parts of the story that does not have anything to do with the plot. One issue I had with this book was the flow. There were many times whenever the author seemed to pause the story to point out the diversity in a character. It was told, rather than incorporated into the plot, and I think this is a large mistake. This takes some of the value of the character’s diversity away from them because their identification is forced. We teach diverse literature, not because we want to check off a list, but because diverse literature has value and brings new viewpoints to the table. The same should be said about diverse characters. The story seemed to attempt to check off a diversity checklist for the characters in the story, but this actually negatively affected the flow and value of the story. 

Another problem I found with this story that is related to the problem above is that the author tried to force the reader to relate. There were many times when the names of emojis were used to represent feelings rather than real words. I think this again messes with the authenticity of the novel, and it creates the feeling that the author is trying way too hard to get young adults to read her book. There are reasons to incorporate emojis into a story, because we text with them now. However, to use them multiple times across a piece of literature not in text format, but to express the feelings of the main character is both cheesy and unrealistic. I believe that even now, readers want their stories to be authentic and relatable. I don’t believe that the youth now want to feel as though a box was checked off in order to appeal to them. I think this minimizes their intelligence in a way. So, aside from the plot, I find there are other, structural problems in this story.