For my book report I read Pretty Face my Mary Hogan. Then main character in this book is Hayley.
The main character Hayley is sarcastic. When her mom buys her a new scale so she can stop lying about her weight her moms says tells her that if she gets any bigger there will be two of her. Hayley is angry and tells her mom that she has always wanted a sister. When Hayley's pants make her butt look big she wonders why they can put a lunar rover on Mars but can't make pants that don't make her butt look like Jupiter. Along with her sarcasm she swears, a lot.
Hayley isn't the most confident and she isn't part of the popular crowd. Because Hayley isn't confident (because of her weight) she doesn't talk to the guy of her dreams (Drew) and if she does she finds herself saying something stupid. Like, how's the weather. Hayley lives in always sunny California. Hayley is also worried that the guy she likes only thinks of her as the funny girl in his English class. When they go on a "date" to the boardwalk with Hayley's friend Jackie they get to be alone in the ocean. But what Drew says isn't what Hayley wants to hear. All he wants is for Hayley to set him up with Jackie. Hayley takes a huge blow to her self confidence and makes up her decision that she needs to get away from California. She gains a lot of confidence in Italy. She even sneeks a boy into her room.
Hayley may not be confident in California but when she goes to Italy she becomes very determined that she is going home a thinner girl. She makes herself get up early every morning and bike up the hill by the house she us staying at in Assisi. She avoids buying gelato no matter how much she wants some. She pushes herself to go farther everyday with the goal of seeing the beauty at the top.
Part 2 :Theme
~Accept Yourself For Who Are~
I think that one of the theme for Pretty Face is that you should accept yourself for who you are. Hayley learns that she can be beautiful just the way she is. When she goes to Italy she find an Italian boy that loves her just the way she is. When this guy likes her as the funny girl that isn't a size two she learns that she should love herself. So, by the time she goes home she is more accepting of the way she looks and doesn't mind that the guy she liked in Santa Monica is dating her best friends.
~A Little Can Go a Long Way~
Another theme is a little can go a long way. Hayley learns that a little determination can go a long way. The first day in Italy she makes a pact to herself that she is going to make it to the top of the hill by the time she has to leave Italy. She was very determined that she was going home a skinnier girl and that she was going to make it to the top of the hill. Everyday she gets higher and higher on the hill with her bike and ignores temptations like gelato. Hayley doesn't give up and before she knows it she can feel her clothes getting looser and her legs getting stronger. When she gets to the top of the hill she realizes how worth it it really was. The boy that she saw while biking up the hill works at the store on the top of hill. So that just proves that a little (determination) goes a long way.
~Let People Get to Know the Real You~
And the thirs theme that i found in Pretty Face was let people get to know the real you. In Santa Monica Hayley pretend to be someone she is not. She tries not to be the funny girl but sometimes she can't help it. Hayley realized, while in Italy, that she should just be herself. When she meets a guy that loves her for who she really is. He likes her as the funny girl and Hayley knows it. Hayley starts to change the way she looks at things and she really opens up to Enzo, the new Italian guy. When it is time to leave she wishes she could stay. They can only IM and Hayley think long distance relationships suck. But she is pretty happy with how her summer turned out even if she is still the girl with the pretty face.
"It's me-the girl with the pretty face."
"My body is curvy, not fat"
"Bella faccia"
