Life in the Fat Lane, a Review
Cherie Bennett
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
THEME: Teenage Pressures, Stress, Relationships, Weight Control, Eating Disorders, Fitting In, and Self-Perception.
RL/IL: Young Adult: Grades 7-9.
PAGES: 260
Warnings: None
Beauty Queen Lara has the perfect life. She has the perfect parents, the perfect body, the perfect friends, the perfect boyfriend and popularity. What more could a girl ask for, especially one as sweet and giving as Lara? Can life really be that perfect?
After being crowned Homecoming Queen, Lara begins to rapidly gain weight. At first, it is only 10 pounds, then 10 more, and then 20 more. Soon Lara is the laughing stock of her high school; she has lost all of her perfect friends, and she starts to see how her parents really treat each other…as strangers who hate one another. Only her best friend Molly and her loving boyfriend Jett stick by her.
Doctor after doctor tell her that she is fine, but why does she continue to gain weight when she is eating less than 600 calories a day and working out for over an hour? This quick read is not only the story about weight loss and body image, but about finding oneself. Lara must either come to terms with her weight gain and accept herself for who she truly is, or wallow in her own self pity.
Somewhat trite and stereotypical, Bennett tries too hard to sound like a teenager. Lara’s conversations and monologues are sometimes forced and in the end her character seems flat. Although the story is interesting, it could be told more realistically.
I had the opportunity to meet Bennett and her husband back in the summer of 2003 when I was doing my grad work at the Oakland University. Both were wonderfully engaging people and love writing together. Kids will certainly find the book charming.
CONNECTIONS:
Swallowing Stones
Pretty Face
