{Mendy} Review: 45 Pounds (More or Less) by K.A. Barson

Title: 45 Pounds (More or Less)
Author: K.A. Barson
Series: n/a
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Publication Date: July 11, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Here are the numbers of Ann Galardi’s life:

She is 16.
And a size 17.
Her perfect mother is a size 6.
Her Aunt Jackie is getting married in 10 weeks, and wants Ann to be her bridesmaid.
So Ann makes up her mind: Time to lose 45 pounds (more or less) in 2 1/2 months.

Welcome to the world of infomercial diet plans, wedding dance lessons, embarrassing run-ins with the cutest guy Ann’s ever seen—-and some surprises about her NOT-so-perfect mother.

And there’s one more thing. It’s all about feeling comfortable in your own skin-—no matter how you add it up!

Where do I begin? I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and just so relatable. Ann Galardi goes through pretty much everything any chubby girl such as my younger self has ever had to deal with in life. The “it” girls who pretend to befriend you while secretly laughing behind your back? Yeah, been there. How about buying weight loss junk from infomercials promising to be the easiest solution? And for a limited time you’ll get not one, but TWO! BEEN THERE.

Ann is as desperate as they come. And I loved it! I saw so much of my youth in her. I so desperately wanted to grab her out of that book and tell her to just stop it. Tell her that it isn’t going to work. Tell her to just ignore people. Tell her that I know what it’s like to have a messed up family. Just tell her that she was worthy.

K.A. Barson slowly progresses through Ann’s life in a short period of time….duh…. 45 days til her Aunt Jackie’s wedding. Somehow, it’s just right. It works. It’s interesting to see what her day to day struggles in life are and how she handles the humility of it all as opposed to other books that try to rush through months, years at a time of a character’s life. We get to know Ann on a much more personal level. We get to know the screwed up people in Ann’s life more intimately. And we get to secretly despise them too.   :)  Except for that cute boy that she may or may not have completely ruined all chances of any kind of relationship with. You’ll have to read for yourself to find out!

Such a cute book! There's nothing I didn't like about it!

Rating:  

About the author:

K.A. Barson graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She and her husband live in Jackson, Michigan, surrounded by kids, grandkids, unruly dogs, and too many pairs of shoes.

Find K.A.:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Labels: 45 pounds, contemporary, k.a. barson, mendy, penguin, reviews, tough subject