45 Pounds (more or less) by K.A Barson
16 year-old Ann Galardi doesn’t exactly have a perfect
life. Her parents got divorced and her
mother remarried and had a set of twins. Her brother doesn’t
talk to any of the family. Her best (and
pretty much only) friend changed schools.
Her perfect size 6 mother is making her go shopping for a swimming
suit. But if Ann admits to her mother
that she is a size 17, she knows it will only cause her mother to guilt her
into yet another diet. And Ann has tried
them all. Several times.
But when Ann’s aunt Jackie announces that she’s getting
married and that she wants both of the Galardi ladies to be in the wedding, Ann
thinks she may have some new motivation.
Ann vows to lose 45 pounds in the next several months in order to fit
into a normal dress. The first step in her new weight-loss plan is
to buy the Secrets 2 Success diet plan that she saw on an infomercial. It comes with all of her daily meals
prepackaged and a workout DVD. This is
going to be a challenge. Ann loves
food. LOVES it. How is she going to survive on lasagna that
tastes like a sponge and salads with “low fat” dressing that looks like it’s
made out of plastic? More importantly:
how is she supposed to pay for all of
this? When Ann finally finds a job at
the mall she has a new challenge: how is she supposed to work at the Twisted
Pretzel in the food court and not eat
those tasty pretzels with the nacho cheese?
Though Ann may be hungry, life during her new diet isn’t all
bad. There was that really cute guy who
stopped by to flirt with her. And it
turns out that Raynee, member of one of school’s most popular cliques, works at
the Twisted Pretzel. And it turns out she’s
pretty nice. And she invites Ann to the
hottest party of the summer.
Life post-party isn’t all that great. Ann gets totally embarrassed at the
party. Then Raynee’s best friend accuses
Ann of being rude to customers and eating tons of pretzels at work. Then Ann notices her younger half-sister
having a tea party with her stuffed animals and telling them that they can’t
have any cake because it will make them fat.
Suddenly, Ann’s weight issues take on a whole different dimension. Between her past habits of gorging herself
and her mother’s habit of never eating Ann realizes that the real problem in
with all of this food stuff isn’t about her fitting into a bridesmaid dress;
it’s about the message that is being sent to a four-year-old.
Ann is a very lovable, realistic character. She goes through lots of ups and downs and
can be really hard on herself at times.
She has family troubles, guy troubles and friend troubles. Ann has her own personal battles but finally
looks beyond herself to help others. I
would recommend 45 Pounds (more or less) to readers who loved Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee or anyone who just wants a realistic
story. Enjoy!
-Natalie
Currently Reading: As Dead As It Gets: A Bad Girls Don't Die Novel by Katie Alender
Comments