Vaught boldly confronts anti-fat discrimination with a seductive mix of emotion and politics. High-school senior Jamie, pursuing a journalism scholarship to fund college, begins a school-newspaper feature called Fat Girl Manifesto. Her scathing, impassioned columns attract widespread media attention by tackling myriad prejudices against fat people, such as doctors who humiliate fat patients and stores that stock only small sizes while being staffed by clerks who taunt fat customers. When Jamie’s beloved boyfriend Burke, a football player, chooses controversial bariatric surgery, Fat Girl chronicles it in excruciating detail. Jamie and Burke’s relationship changes under duress. Fat Girl’s voice shows Jamie’s confident side, full of verve and wit and anger; underneath, she hides personal insecurity. Most of Vaught’s narrative messages about fatness are empowering and humane, though they occasionally contain oddly stereotypical old myths that don’t get questioned. This zesty page-turner will hook readers with romance and energy while addressing a woefully ignored subject. (Fiction. YA)
