My Eyes Are Up Here

Prologue

My mother believes there are two types of people: those who like to be the center of attention, and those who are too shy to want anybody to notice them. She thinks I am the second but should be the first.

What she d never understand is that some people like to be noticed for some things but not for other things. Like to be noticed for being an excellent piano player, but not for being allergic to peanuts. Or noticed for wearing new shoes, but not for speaking with an accent. Or noticed for being the only Kennedy High student to score a 5 on the AP Human Geography exam, but not for being the only Kennedy High student whose breasts are bigger than her head.

 

Chapter 1

Come on, Greer. Maybe you ll make a new friend.

I answer in annoyed blinks.

It s nice to help someone get settled in a new place. It s a chance to give back.

I blink at her harder, because she s pretending like I volunteered for this.

Half an hour. Forty minutes, tops.

Mom s half hours do not top out at forty minutes. Mom s half hours can last hours. Especially if she has an audience.

We re here for her work. She is a relocation advisor with Relocation Specialists, Inc. Big companies hire her to help settle new employees in the area. She leads neighborhood tours, arranges school visits, and recommends pediatricians, handymen, or Brazilian waxers.

She s very good at it. It satisfies her constant need to share her opinions and justifies the over-­the-­top luxury SUV she leases, with its interior of baby-­seal leather.

Sometimes, like now, if she has a client with a kid my age, she ll drag me along to meet with them, like a junior re-­lo advisor. I m supposed to answer their questions about being a teenager in suburban Illinois. They never have any questions.

It s always the same. It s even the same Starbucks. I sit next to Mom and try to look extra welcoming.

Laura Zimmermann is a multiple-time champion of the Twin Cities Moth and Word Sprout story slams, and she was chosen to participate in the 2018 Listen To Your Mother storytelling show. She lives with her family in Minneapolis, MN. My Eyes Are Up Here is her first novel.

"Charming, relatable and laugh-out-loud hilarious, My Eyes Are Up Here is a sparkling debut from my new favorite YA author, Laura Zimmermann. Her Greer Walsh is at once all of us and the most special of us. I wanted to hug her, give her a high five and sometimes throttle her, but I always, always rooted for her. Erin Hahn, author of You d Be Mine and More Than Maybe

My Eyes Are Up Here is not only a smart and honest book about body positivity. It s a funny and endearing read that will have you cheering for Greer Walsh, and celebrating the power of female friendship." Deb Caletti, National Book Award finalist and Michael L. Printz Honor medalist

"[S]mart, insightful and often very funny [...] this novel perceptively explores the emotional toll experienced by teens who are self-conscious and feeling isolated about being different and the liberation that comes with breaking free." Buffalo News

"By turns hilarious, heartbreaking and totally, completely honest, perfect for those who liked recent novels like Frankly in Love."--Culturess.com

"Zimmermann s debut may have captured my own experience in a way no one ever has before when it comes to being a girl with big boobs." Kelly Jensen for BookRiot.com

"Wise and wry... An original, feminist, and timely first choice title for all libraries." SLJ, starred review

"Zimmerman s debut has a witty, unabashedly honest voice." PW

"Zimmermann s debut is both insightful and humorous, owing to a bright and funny yet self-deprecating narrator matched with brief chapters that capture Greer s urgencies and insecurities. Girls who lament not having the perfect body will appreciate this novel, and girls who value their best friends will relate without hesitation. Rise up for girl power!" Booklist 

"Many girls will resonate with this story of trying to learn to love your body and be comfortable with the skin you re in. We are both so glad that this