Suck It in and Smile

by Laurence Beaudoin-Masse, Shelley Tanaka (Translator)

Overview

A funny, touching look at the life of a social media influencer who starts to question the #goals life she has created for herself.

Every day, Ellie motivates her hundreds of thousands of followers to become the best versions of themselves by posting videos of exercise routines and high-protein breakfast recipes. Far from the shy teenager that she was, she is now in a very public relationship with singer Samuel Vanasse, and together they have become one of the most popular influencer couples in the country. She has succeeded. She shines.

And yet, Ellie worries that her life is not as flawless as she makes it seem on YouTube and Instagram. Between her obsession with the “ideal weight,” her growing attraction to another man, her family’s disdain for her career as a content creator and a collaboration with another influencer who Ellie can’t stand, a thought haunts her. What if, by trying to become everything she wanted to be, she’s lost herself along the way? 

Suck It in and Smile is an intimate exploration of our obsession with appearances and the hypocrisies that appear when you must craft the perfect online life.

Key Text Features

chapters

vignettes

dialogue

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773068091
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Pages:	328
Sales rank:	666,523
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

LAURENCE BEAUDOIN-MASSE has written two novels: Suck It in and Smile (originally published as Rentrer son ventre et sourire) and its sequel. She is a concept editor for Radio-Canada. Laurence would like to help girls who, like her, never feel like they measure up. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.

SHELLEY TANAKA is an award-winning author, translator and editor who has written and translated more than thirty books for children and young adults. She teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Shelley lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Read an Excerpt

If there’s one thing that annoys influencers, it’s being told that they are influencers. In general, we prefer to be known as “content creators.” I would never say this in front of my colleagues, but I think it’s hilarious to talk about our work this way. I mean, it’s so deliberately ... vague. As if a large part of what we do isn’t to exert our influence over our followers. …

That’s why the expression “content creator” makes me laugh. I mean, you’re kidding, right? That would be, like, the difference between me and a photographer. Technically we’re both “content creators.” She takes pictures and I make videos, right? Yet you’d never hear a photographer call herself a content creator. She’s a photographer because what she sells is her pictures. 

But what am I selling? My content? No. What I sell is the people who watch my videos. What brands want when they hire me is to reach my audience. I sell my influence. I am an influencer. 

We’re not going pretend otherwise, are we?

Editorial Reviews

Short chapters and compelling social dilemmas make the narrative compulsively readable … Through balancing Ellie's humanity and flaws, this book provides a clarifying exposure of influencer culture that can help high schoolers and new adults better understand the pressures and lures of social media.

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database

In Suck It In and Smile, Beaudoin-Masse shows the ephemeral nature of online fame and the stresses associated with presenting and maintaining a persona that isn't real. An amusing and heartfelt read, the novel will open the eyes of many and may help them accept who they really are.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

A timely story about the fictional life of a social media influencer.

Canadian Children's Book News

This unfiltered look at being a successful influencer strips away the glitz and glitter to show the emotional and physical tolls of fighting for demographics and followers ... A perfect crossover title. STARRED REVIEW

Booklist

An addicting story.

Quebec Library Association

In Suck It In and Smile, Beaudoin-Masse shows the ephemeral nature of online fame and the stresses associated with presenting and maintaining a persona that isn’t real. An amusing and heartfelt read, the novel will open the eyes of many and may help them accept who they really are.

Canadian Review of Materials

2022-08-17
An influencer grapples with presenting an authentic life on social media instead of living one in this novel translated from French.

From her home in Quebec, 25-year-old Ellie watches her YouTube account, Quinoa Forever, grow to nearly half a million followers. From recipes to workouts and polished photos on Instagram, Ellie finds new fame thanks to her relationship with her handsome musician boyfriend, Sam, who was a finalist on The Voice. But her life starts to unravel when she meets kind, interesting Dave and she can’t stop thinking about him. In addition, someone from a dark part of her past resurfaces, and she begins to lose her grip on maintaining picture perfection. Ellie struggles with disordered eating, including obsessing over calories, bingeing, and misusing exercise; a supporting character accuses her of promoting orthorexia. There is some discussion of body positivity, but frustratingly, Ellie never fully recognizes the seriousness of her behaviors or stops participating in the perpetuation of the culture of fat-shaming. Beaudoin-Masse expertly weaves Ellie’s emotional distress—often taking the form of a quiet, burning rage and desperation—into the storyline. The pacing is well done, and the supporting characters are interesting. However, the book finishes on a cliffhanger that may leave readers searching for missing pages. The main characters are assumed White.

A relevant read that comes close to making substantial social revelations. (Fiction. 16-adult)

Kirkus Reviews