My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters |  | Author: Sydney Salter
Publisher: Sandpiper
List Price: $7.99
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Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 466165
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.9 x 1
ISBN: 0152066438
EAN: 9780152066437
ASIN: 0152066438
Publication Date: April 6, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
It’s the end of junior year, and summer is about to begin. The Summer of Passion, to be exact, when Jory Michaels plans to explore all the possibilities of the future--and, with any luck, score a boyfriend in the process. But Jory has a problem. A big problem. A curvy, honking, bumpy, problem in the form of her Super Schnozz, the one thing standing between Jory and happiness. And now, with the Summer of Passion stretched before her like an open road, she's determined for Super Schnozz to disappear. Jory takes a job delivering wedding cakes to save up for a nose job at the end of the summer; she even keeps a book filled with magazine cutouts of perfect noses to show the doctor. But nothing is ever easy for accident-prone Jory--and before she knows it, her Summer of Passion falls apart faster than the delivery van she crashes. In her hilarious and heartbreaking debut novel, Sydney Salter delivers a story about broadening your horizons, accepting yourself, and finding love right under your nose.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 49
 Quirky and Witty, But Lacks Substance October 22, 2009
www.luxuryreading.com (Cleveland, OH)
The Michaels family is beautiful and talented, making Jory Michaels' imperfections that more obvious, at least in her mind. Jory is about to enter her senior year of high school and surrounded by friends who've grown out of their "ugly" phases, Jory feels even more insecure about her appearance. While day dreaming about boys she'd never have the confidence to approach, Jory also waits for the day when she'll be able to get plastic surgery and fix her nose.
It's easily obvious that "My Big Nose" is Sydney Salter's first novel. The book is honest, witty, and at times funny, but the plot is thin at best and the "big nose" theme is relied on too heavily. The theme that Salter does do well with is the idea that no matter how attractive or confident someone may seem on the outside, they are also struggling to find themselves and come to terms with their looks. Even this honesty is no big revelation, but "My Big Nose" might be enjoyable to fans of YA nevertheless.
 Recommended October 6, 2009
M. C. Blaisdell (Woodinville)
My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters by Sydney Salter is a breezy comedy about Jory Michaels and her Super Schnozz. Jory takes a job selling wedding cakes to save up for her coveted nose job. Salter finds just the right mix of laughs and teen angst and disasters, creating a heartfelt romantic tale about growing up and learning how to fit into your own skin. A recommended read.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too September 11, 2009
TeensReadToo.com (All Over the US & Canada)
Jory Michaels is going to transform herself before school starts. This is going to be the Summer of Passion; the summer before senior year.
The big obstacle to making it perfect, of course, is her nose. Jory is obsessed about her big nose...she's just sure that the key to making her life perfect is getting it fixed. She plans to earn enough money for a nose job, then she will be one of the popular kids, and maybe attract the guy she has a mad crush on.
Everyone around Jory seems perfect. Her little brother, Finn, is a soccer star who managed to score a date to the senior prom when he was still a freshman. Her mom is perfectly proportioned and does everything right. Her dad is a workaholic and a great guy, and all her friends seem to know where they are going in life.
Jory finds a job delivering wedding cakes, and, oh boy....the van is a stick shift. Never mind that...she can learn quickly...she is sure that the stick shift and parallel parking will be a snap to figure out. But Jory is accident-prone and her hilarious escapades keep the action going.
Then, when her best friend begins hanging out with the guy that Jory has a crush on, emotions shift into high gear. Nothing turns out the way Jory plans.
MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS is about learning to improve what you can and accept what you can't change, while still broadening your horizons. It's told with a great sense of humor, is a bit predictable, but still great fun. Teen girls will see themselves in Jory's desire to be prettier than she perceives herself. The characters are unique and likable, the dialogue witty and fresh, there is plenty of action to keep even reluctant readers interested, and it rushes to a very satisfying ending.
Reviewed by: Grandma Bev
 My Big Nose delivers no big impact September 6, 2009
L. Hoppough
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters is written from 17-year-old Jory's view on life, school, love, and her ginormous "Super Schnozz", which she blames as the cause for all her problems. While the intentions of this story are good--there are PLENTY of morals scribbled in at the end--it tries to fit in too many small plot-lines, and not enough big ones. Many of Jory's adventures seemed pointless and without much excitement, and the characters couldn't make up their mind about who they wanted to be. In fact, Jory's closest friends went from BFFs to big fat jerks in as little as a few paragraphs. Though this book was entertaining at times, in the end the characters were one-dimensional, the plot was only half-formed, and the many lessons Jory learned at the end seemed to be wrapped up Disney-style at the last minute. It may be an OK summer read, but it's definitely not one that will stick with you.
Has heart, but lacks power and punch August 23, 2009
M. Snider (Maryland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Jory Michaels has a problem. A big, lumpy, ridiculous and embarrassing one -- and it's right on the edge of her face, there to greet each and every boy in Reno, Nevada who just may have paid an ounce of attention to her . . . if Super Schnozz wasn't constantly there to ruin her chances at popularity and happiness. Her exploits and attempts to gain the attention of friends and potential boyfriends alike over one summer are the center of the MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS.
Jory was a believable -- if not entirely likeable -- heroine, and I think many teen girls would appreciate and relate to her body image issues. And like our narrator, I've also felt I have my own Super Schnozz perched on the edge of my face -- and I've been very self-conscious about it! That's really what attracted me to the book: I'm always interested in the plights of girls with big noses.
The real "moral" of the story here became blatantly obvious as Jory eventually bonded with her mother enough to have a frank discussion of why Jory came to find herself in the office of a plastic surgeon: her own mother's ridiculous dieting and constant discussion of her own looks made Jory grow up feeling insecure and judged. Though her mom swore she was only commenting on herself and not her daughter's appearance, she was leading by example -- and the example Jory observed was that beauty was the only gateway to happiness. And that belief, of course, made her ridiculously unhappy.
While Salter is definitely a good writer who had no trouble getting in the mind of teens, my fundamental issue with the book was this: it was whiny. Oh, so very, very whiny. While we had the neat framework of the summer laid out as the timeline of the novel, I felt like Jory in her work van: driving aimlessly for hours on end, no particular path in mind. I just didn't feel like I was getting anywhere. The novel has heart, but didn't have enough punch to keep me captivated.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 49
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