big fat books: body positivity and fat acceptance in ya lit
DESCRIPTION
the slide show that accompanied the lit review during the Body Positivity & Fat Acceptance pre-conference at YALSA's 2010 YA Lit Symposium. Might not make too much sense if you weren't in the audience, but you're welcome to it anyway! :)TRANSCRIPT
Big Fat BooksBody Positivity and Fat
Acceptance in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction
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