ARTICHOKE’S HEART

The overt story line in this touching novel is obese-girl-loses-weight, though it’s really a story about developing self-esteem, connecting with family and friends and finding love. When the story opens, fat and friendless Rosemary finds herself an outcast at her high school and the recipient of well-meaning but insensitive and irritating advice at home. A strict diet-and-exercise regimen combines with new social opportunities and psychological support to cause Rosemary to grow emotionally as she contracts physically. Although parts of the story strain credibility—how many high-school athletes tenderly pursue obese girls, for example?—Supplee makes the reader care right up to the heartwarming finish. More problematic is this burning question: Could Rosemary succeed socially if she weren’t dropping pounds? The answer here—which seems to be saying what matters is the heart while simultaneously saying what matters is the weight—is ambiguous on this point. (Fiction. 12 & up)