Big Mouth & Ugly Girl

Bibliography: Oates, J.C. (2003) Big Mouth & Ugly Girl. New York, NY: Harper.

Genre: Teen

Reading Level/Interest Age: 15 yrs+

Reader's Annotation: Ursula doesn't care what anyone thinks about her, and she surprises even herself when she boldly stands up for a classmate wrongly accused.

Author:Joyce Carol Oates was a well-established adult short story and fiction writer before she forayed into YA writing.

Plot Summary: Ursula Riggs is a tough, aggressive member of the high school basketball team. Her alter-ego, Ugly Girl, allows her to put on a tough exterior persona. One day at school, a classmate, Matt Donaghy or Big Mouth, gets into a lot of trouble because of an inappropriate joke he told. Ursula is the only one who believes in Matt's innocence, and she reaches out to help him. Over the course of several weeks while Matt's family is confronted with hate mail and threats, Ursula and Matt become friends.

Critical Evaluation:This novel follows the perspectives of two character, Ursula and Matt (?). Although Ursula is the first person narrator, each chapter switches between her point of view and Matt’s third person points of view. This works well with the story because a major part of the plot has to deal with perspective. This switching also allows us to see the relationship between Ursula and Matt from each side. Ursula makes a convincing narrator, and it is fun to see her relate to her alter-ego “Ugly Girl.” Ugly Girl’s outlook is unique, and her strong personality comes through clearly in both action and feelings.

The setting for this novel is very much so a teenager’s world. Ursula and Matt both understand how to react to things that happen at school because it is their environment. For example, Ursula confronts the twins for fabricating the story about Matt. She also takes charge of the situation when Matt’s dog Pumpkin is taken. The story gets much more serious when that comfortable teenage world is divided by adults. When the religious conservatism of Reverend leads him to act out, both Ursula and Matt are challenged by the consequences. This plot twist teaches the characters an important adult life lesson.

Curriculum Ties:Contemporary civil rights example

Book Talk Ideas:Introduce the characters and basics of the plot (why Matt was arrested)

Challenge Issues:Religious fanaticism, bullying in school

Why was this text included in this project?I wanted to include one of Joyce Carol Oates's YA novels because she is so well-known for adult fiction.