Vaught, Susan. (2008). Big Fat Manifesto. New York: Bloomsbury
Jamie Carcaterra has a lot to say and what better way to it than through the school
newspaper. Oh*and it’ll also help her get her portfolio ready for the scholarship
she needs to go to college. What does she have to say? Her name says it all: Fat
Girl. In her weekly article, Fat Girl talks about society and how it views large
people, how stores do not cater to plus-sized teens, and controversial issues like
bariatric surgery on teens.
Jamie is a plus sized senior (5X, to be exact). Her family is large, she’s
large*and she’s okay with that. She’s dating the love of her life, Burke (a
plus-sized guy); has two best friends Freddie (her no-nonsense gay friend), and
NoNo (the thin save-the-world gal) and a fellow student editor, Heath (rich,
good-looking...your basic hunk).
But things begin to change quickly. Burke has elected to go through gastric bypass
surgery to lose weight, and Jamie is beginning to have mixed feelings. Will she
still love him, but more than that*when he becomes thin, will HE still love her?
Top that with national coverage of her weekly Fat Girl articles (promoting an
unhealthy lifestyle for teens?), working on the paper and the school play, that
she’s beginning to like the hot guy*and her life becomes more than Fat Girl thinks
she can handle.
Hooray for this book!! With the glut of “beautiful girl” books out there, this is
a refreshing change showing the perspective of at least 3 out of 10 high school
girls. The author tackles two controversial topics with grace, realism and
hilarity. Jamie is gutsy, real, and self-assured with small dollops of self-doubt.
The topics, especially the gastric bypass surgery of what a patient goes through,
is written with realism. You’ll think*and you’ll laugh!
Naomi Bates
Northwest High School Library
Justin, Texas
nbates@nisdtx.org
817-215-0203
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