Suzanne Supplee. ARTICHOKE'S HEART

Rosemary feels like her life would be perfect if only she were skinny. And everyone around her seems to echo that sentiment. Her mother buys her a treadmill for Christmas, and her Aunt buys her tickets to a weight-loss seminar. It’s even more difficult when Rosemary works at her mom’s beauty salon, since Rosemary feels anything but beautiful. Watching all the skinny, pretty girls from school traipsing in and out everyday only makes her feel worse about herself. Then a few dramatic events happen to make Rosie reevaluate her life. She begins to stick to a plan that makes her begin to lose weight. But, she must do more than lose weight to lose her “fat” image of herself. Along with a few good friends, she does begin to find her value and begin to hope for the future.

Okay, I have to admit that the chocolate on the cover is what grabbed my attention! But this book is really lovely and well-written. It’s so honest about how many teenage girls feel about themselves, whether they are overweight or not. It’s also honest in the way it shows how you really can be loved by friends and boys, even if you aren’t perfect. That is such a wonderful sentiment for teenagers (and older girls) to learn and to internalize.

What a wonderful, inspirational book. The atmosphere and the southern charm really warmed my heart. Plus, it was funny!

Check out the author’s website here
And her blog here

I’m looking forward to more from this charming author!

Susan Vaught. BIG FAT MANIFESTO

It’s Jamie Carcaterra’s senior year in high school. She has a long to-do list consisting of ACT testing, college applications, senior pictures, staring in the school play, and now it seems like changing the world has been added to her list. Jamie begins writing a column for the school paper called Fat Girl Manifesto. She’s fed up with the world’s assumptions of what it’s like to be fat. She begins with shattering myths of fat girls. She says she doesn’t want to be called “chubby,” “large,” or “plus-size.” She says “I’m fat.” She says that she has a boyfriend and a life - a life that isn’t all consumed with losing weight or apologizing for her weight. Her column shakes up the school and the community. She points out what it’s like to be her, “fat girl,” as people begin calling her, after the name of her column. For example, she details her limited clothing options, the way she is treated at the doctor’s office and the way the airlines treat her. She began writing the column to win a journalism scholarship, but ends up gaining nationwide media attention for her honest, yet contentious, opinions. When her boyfriend, Burke, decides he wants to have gastric bypass surgery, she sees firsthand how much pain a person will go through to be thin. Then things begin to get tough in her life, so Jamie begins to wonder what is really important to her and what she is willing to fight for.
Jamie is one of the most enjoyable characters I’ve encountered in a long while. She’s refreshing, strong, honest, realistic and completely wonderful. Plus, her friends Freddie and No-No are well-developed and fun characters, as well as Burke and Heath. In fact, all the characters are realistic and unique. This was a surprisingly enlightening and memorable read! I highly recommend it.

Enjoy a sampling of the the Fat Girl Manifesto here from the author's website.
And read more about his author here. (glad I stumbled across her!)

Audrey D. Brashich. ALL MADE UP: A GIRLS GUIDE TO SEEING THROUGH CELEBRITY HYPE...AND CELEBRATING REAL BEAUTY

I read a fair amount of nonfiction, but I’m rarely compelled to blog about it. But this is really a meaningful book for teen girls. These days girls and women are bombarded with images of what we “should” look like. We are told what is considered beautiful by the media, the fashion industry and Hollywood. But for most girls, that ideal standard isn’t necessarily achievable and frankly, why it should be the goal? A former model and major writer for teen magazines has written a book that encourages girls to see through all the celebrity hype to find their own beauty. She writes about the evolution of models and how they became the “standard” of beauty. Then she breaks through the hype by enlightening readers what a celebrity must go through to maintain their “look.” She also questions why women who are famous for being famous are more celebrated by our media than say, oh, women who are actually doing something, like researching a cure for cancer or training for the Olympics. She encourages girls to find real role models and to celebrate their own beauty, just the way they are. There are some great resources in the back of the book, and the author has an awesome website to discuss topics in the book. I’m glad I discovered this amazing writer. She’s a wonderful advocate for girls and women of all ages!

Here’s her website www.allmadeup.net

Her awesome blog is here: http://www.audreybrashich.blogs.com/

Check it out!