{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

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

Teaser Tuesday #62: Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton & 45 Pounds (More or Less) by K. A. Barson

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are the books we're teasing this week:

Title: Some Quiet Place
Author: Kelsey Sutton
Series: n/a
Publisher: Flux
Publication Date: July 8, 2013
Source: received from publisher via Netgalley/finished copy provided
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I can’t weep. I can’t fear. I’ve grown talented at pretending.

Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them. Longing, Shame, and Courage materialize around her classmates. Fury and Resentment appear in her dysfunctional home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one—Fear. He’s intrigued by her, as desperate to understand the accident that changed Elizabeth’s life as she is herself.

Elizabeth and Fear both sense that the key to her past is hidden in the dream paintings she hides in the family barn. But a shadowy menace has begun to stalk her, and try as she might, Elizabeth can barely avoid the brutality of her life long enough to uncover the truth about herself. When it matters most, will she be able to rely on Fear to save her?

     It's as if thinking of him has brought him, because it's Fear's voice slicing through the stillness. "I'm gone for a few days and what's this? I come back to a little high school romance. Interesting pair, really. The girl who can feel nothing and the boy who feels too much."

-- p. 127 of finished copy

I'm almost finished with this one -- in fact, I may have finished by the time this post is live -- and it's surprised me with how well it's held my attention.  I even stayed on the elliptical twenty minutes longer than I'd planned!  That's really saying something. =)  I love the Emotions personified and the nothingness that consumes Elizabeth and just trying to unravel who and what she is and how she came to be.

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 informercial 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!

     "You okay?" He looks up at me. His eyes scan my face. How many chins do I have at that angle? Can he see up my nose? Oh, God, please don't let there be anything up there.

-- p. 146 of ARC

Ugh...gawd...every girl's worst nightmare, right?  Chatting up your crush and realizing you've got a flapper or worse.  I just started this, but I can already tell it's going to be cute.  :)


What are you teasing this week?  Share it in the comments or leave a link so we can visit!

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Labels: 45 pounds, contemporary, flux, k. a. barson, kelsey sutton, mystery, paranormal, penguin, some quiet place, superpowers, teaser tuesday, tough subject