Big Fat Books: Body Positivity and Fat Acceptance in YA Lit

Big Fat BooksBody Positivity and Fat

Acceptance in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction

Fat 2.0

•www.fatgirlreading.com•fatgirlreading@gmail.com•@misskubelik•#yalsalit10 #readfat

Literature Review•Positive•Good Intentions•Problematic•Adult Titles w/ Teen Appeal•Disordered Eating

Positive

Payback Time by Carl Deuker

• Daniel “Mitch” True, senior

• “5’4, 200…three months ago”

• Houghton Mifflin, 2010

Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne

• Celeste Harris, eighth grader

• “plus sized” • Dial, 2009

Does This Book Make Me Look Fat?

• Anthology edited by Marissa Walsh

• Fiction and non-fiction from authors like Barry Lya, Ellen Hopkins, Coe Booth, and Sara Zarr

• Clarion, 2008

Go Figure by Jo Edwards

• Ryan Burke, 17• “206 pounds”• Simon Pulse,

2007

Secrets of Truth & Beauty by Megan Frazer

• Dara Cohen, 17

• “fat”• Hyperion,

2009

Looks by Madeleine George

Looks by Madeleine George

• Meghan Ball, sophomore• Aimee Zorn, freshman• Viking, 2008

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

The Designated, Ugly, Fat Friend• Bianca Piper, 17• Fatness? Unknown• Poppy, 2010

Fat Hoochie Prom Queen by Nico Medina

• Margarita “Madge” Diaz, senior

• “big girl” • “chubs”• Simon Pulse,

2008

The Debs by Susan McBride

The Debs by Susan McBride

• Laura Delacroix Bell• “size 14”• Delacorte, 2008 & 2009• Final book in the trilogy “in

publishing limbo”

Beacon Hills High by Mo’Nique and Sherri McGee McCovey

• Eboni Ames, 13• “F.A.T. – Fabulous

And Thick” • “fluffy”• Amistad, 2008• First in a series

that never materialized

All About Vee by C. Leigh Purtill

• Veronica “Big Vee” May, 18

• 217 pounds• Razorbill, 2008

Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl

• Veronica Walsh, almost 16

• “fat”• Knopf, 2010• “With her pigtails,

bulk, and hybrid outfits, it’s hard to envision Veronica as the fashion icon others admire.” – Ilene Cooper in Booklist

My Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught

My Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught

• Jamie Carcaterra, 17• “Fat Girl”• 300+ pounds• Bloomsbury, 2007

Blob by Frieda Wishinksy

• Eve Richards, freshman

• “fat”• Orca, 2010

Food, Girls, And Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff

Food, Girls, And Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff

• Andrew Zansky, sophomore• “306.4 pounds”• EgmontUSA, 2009

Good Intentions

This Book Isn’t Fat, It’s Fabulous

by Nina Beck

This Book Isn’t Fat, It’s Fabulous

by Nina Beck

• Riley Swain, 16• “186-188 pounds”• “statuesque & pear-shaped”• Point/Scholastic, 2008

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk

• Will Halpin, 16• “manatee”• Knopf, 2010

Plus by Veronica Chambers

• Bee Wilson, 17 year old college freshman

• Fatness? Unknown• Enough to be a

“plus sized supermodel” but still “toned” and “not bloated”

• Razorbill, 2010

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David

Levithan

• Tiny Cooper, • “ginormous”• Dutton, 2010

Pretty Face by Mary Hogan

• Haley, 16• “bowling-ball

belly”• Harper, 2008

Slob by Ellen Potter

• Owen Birnbaum, 12

• “156 pounds”• Philomel, 2009

Problematic

Fat Cat by Robin Brande

• Catherine Locke, 17

• “fat”• “pudgeball”• Knopf, 2009

Ugly Duckling’s Love Revolution by Yuuki Fujinari

Ugly Duckling’s Love Revolution by Yuuki Fujinari

• Hitomi Sakuragawa

• “220 pounds”• Yen Press,

2010

Huge by Sasha Paley

Huge by Sasha Paley

• Wil & April• “overweight” • “fat”• Simon &

Schuster, 2007

Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee

• Rosemary Goode, 16

• “203-158 pounds”• Dutton, 2008

Adult Titles w/ Teen Appeal

Adult Titles w/ Teen Appeal

Recommended for Adults

Disordered Eating

Nothing by Robin Friedman

Perfect by Natasha Friend

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

thinandbeautiful.com by Liane Shaw

Skin by Adrienne Maria Vrettos