Review by Ian Keogh
In the adult world, despite knowing about the feelings of others, the overweight are still routinely ridiculed. Children have no great understanding of feelings or boundaries, so what’s life like for the young teenager who’s heavier than her classmates and has no aptitude for sport? Audrey Meeker investigates that via Annabeth, who lives next door to the exceptionally sporty, slim and admired Serena. As young children they were friends, but now take the school bus home in strained silence. Annabeth’s mother knows she’s unhappy and withdrawn, and feels the best solution is to send her to vollyeball camp.
There’s a thin line to be trodden in producing a story aimed at children self-conscious about their weight. Ignoring classroom realities in offering fictional false hope is as cruel as offering none whatsoever, and Meeker’s solution is clever. She very gradually restores the relationship between Annabeth and Serena. We see early that Serena has her own insecurities and a mother whose primary concern seems to be raising an idealised child, and she’s also volunteering at the library during the summer, a location Annabeth considers her personal domain. There’s plenty of poor behaviour on both sides.
Interestingly, Meeker doesn’t just use the volleyball training as a background, but incorporates technique and training into Last One Picked, using clear diagramatical illustrations to do so. The cartooning overall is very expressive, ensuring we know how people feel at any given point, and there’s a subtlety to the art. The better of the two volleyball coaches isn’t drawn with the standard tall and slim physique.
It takes some honesty on the part of both girls before reconciliation, and there’s an entirely believable long period of glaring at each other before that occurs. Meeker creatively applies stumbling blocks, and is equally imaginative in gradually guiding readers toward the realisation of where the real problem lies.
Last One Picked underlines how there is a place for everyone and being true to yourself is so important, and does so in an uplifting way that connects so well.
