Between the Covers :: 'The Diet Starts on Monday' by Tamar Chnorokian

...this book has the guts to make it's protagonist fairly unpleasant at the same time as it has you rooting for her to get a little happiness. 

Picking up YA fiction when you are not a young adult should always be accompanied by a degree of critical caution. I'm not particularly enraptured by dub-step either, but I am wise enough to recognise that I am not the target audience.

While I'm never going to be a wide reader of YA fiction, I like to enjoy the forays that I take whilst keeping an open mind about how they contribute to the genre as a whole. And as a genre that spans genres YA seems to struggling to emerge as something more than just inspirationally superhuman adolescents, battling to the end.

Happily The Diet Starts on Monday goes further; offering a tantalizing insight into a realm almost exotic in Australian fiction: Western Sydney. Further it confronts teen bullshit in a thought provoking way, and while it may not always be unique that is hardly the fault of the author; teenagers just tend to perpetrate the same awful crap from generation to generation.

The premise of The Diet Starts on Monday is a fairly standard Cinderella plot line...

Zara Hagopian has a crush on the hot guy at school, but he barely notices her. Maybe it's important that his name is Pablo, that he's a twin and has dreamy eyes and caramel skin. Probably not though as his role is to be the raison d'être for Zara's transformation.

This is not your standard rags to riches transformation however. See Zara is a size 22 and it is unfair to say that she is not noticed. More correctly she enjoys the full attention (and venom & vitriol) we come to expect from insecure teenagers. I'm almost certain life was like this when I was at school and Tamar Chnorhokian ably brings it to life. Trigger warning for formerly fat kids!

Zara's journey raises a lot of issues around societies cult of image and fashion. As she resolves then fails then resolves again to lose weight all for a guy I admit I wondered whether this wasn't just reinforcing the message that girls are for looking at. But if Chnorhokian had presented this differently she would have been ignoring the reality of a lot of young women struggling with who they are in a world that wasn't built for their success.

At least this book has the guts to make it's protagonist fairly unpleasant at the same time as it has you rooting for her to get a little happiness. Because Zara is not simply a princess hidden under a tatty dress. She has a strong family tradition in the Armenian community and must balance her loyalties with her need to be a kid amongst others, all with strong communities. She also must confront the reasons behind her sadness and her weight, before she can accept the antithesis of either.

I didn't like Zara for a large portion of this book, at times wanting to scream at her for the stupid mistakes she making. I also worried that any victory that she felt was pyrrhic. But for that to happen she must have struck me in some way, and that means the novel worked.

 _______

Tamar Chnorhokian and The Diet Starts on Monday emerged through the Western Sydney Sweatshop collective. Their philosophy is to empower and embolden their area through stories and bring these stories to a wider audience who perhaps think of Western Sydney as the bit without the beaches.

This is an accomplished effort to emerge from their workshops and augers well for future offerings...


For the past eighteen months I have been a producer and presenter on 'Final Draft', 2SER 107.3FM's flagship literature program. Between the Covers is my attempt to share some of this wonderful world of books and writing...

You can check out my interview with Tamar Chnorhokian and Mohammed Ahmad from Sweatshop on Final Draft's Podcast page on 2SER.com
Join me on Twitter @rightzblock
Catch me on Goodreads... goodreads.com/AndrewPople

Marginal or Vulnerable?

So Julia Gillard has hit town in Western Sydney...

The story, as I understand it, is the PM will address the concerns of some of the most vulnerable; families, single parents and low income earners, telling them her vision for the west. The other story, as I understand it, is the PM will be attempting to shore up support in eleven marginal seats. The price of failure is an election loss come September.

Nothing particularly sinister here, especially if you're in western Sydney and have the ear of a politician. Except that between Abbott and Gillard western Sydney must be feeling like the birthday kid that everyone wants to sit next to, just to get a bigger piece of cake!

'Battlegrounds' is what the yanks call it, we prefer terms like 'safe' and 'marginal'. But be they regional, inner city, battler, conservative and green, these are all voter groups whose votes are being courted or ignored in the lead up to the election. The politicians will talk; promising and politicking about why they are best, and expect us to listen.

So how does it feel to be a demographic more than a person?

I find it alienating and also a little confusing. I mean I feel strongly about human rights issues, rent and think infrastructure development around the country is important for all Australians. That barely begins to describe my opinions but buggered if I can find someone speaking to me.

Come election time I'll have to make a choice that may not address all the issues that concern me. Other people may find themselves making a choice over one issue that concerns them.

If you choose based on which party is addressing child payments and tax cuts maybe you're identifying with the 'families' demographic. But if you're voting on environmental action and the carbon tax, you're more of a 'green' demographic. Perhaps you're concerned about financial regulation and your investments from a 'conservative' demographic position. There are other positions though.

Consider those who don't get a vote...

Kids don't get a vote, hell even young adults don't have the chance to poll their opinions which sucks if you've left school and are working and paying taxes but not yet eighteen. This means that parents must give some consideration to their youngsters when they think about who to give their vote to. Childcare and education become issues long after school. Not to mention the health care system and welfare.

Foreign aid, development as well as asylum seekers takes in thousands of people who do not get to vote in our elections. As a globally engaged country Australia is committed to initiatives overseas as well. Holding a seat on the UN security council, more than ever we have an obligation to consider how we act on behalf of refugees, people in crisis and those in war torn nations.

One vote and then three more years. Whatever 'demographic' you ostensibly fall into that's not enough and there's so much more we can do. Don't wait to be a demographic the politicians need to win, demand their attention now.

The people in western Sydney didn't have to wait for the PM to visit. At any time they could write, email or tweet:*

The Hon Julia Gillard MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
email: 'Contact your PM'
twitter: @JuliaGillard

Or perhaps the alternate PM:

The Hon Tony Abbott MHR
Leader of the Opposition
Parliament House
RG 109
Canberra ACT 2600
email: 'Contact Tony'
twitter: @TonyAbbottMHR

Or even the balance of power in the Senate:

Christine Milne's Office
GPO Box 896
Hobart TAS 7001
email: 'Contact Christine Milne'
twitter: @senatormilne

Once every three years we vote to give them all a job. Let's not forget that the rest of the time we can hold them accountable for doing it.

_________

*All contact details were taken from the relevant pollies website and twitter pages. Apologies if they are not correct but good on you for trying to get in touch to try them out!