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45 Pounds (More or Less)

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45 Pounds (More or Less)

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Overview

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 2 months, and wants Ann to be a bridesmaid.
So Ann makes up her mind: Time to lose 45 pounds (more or less).

Welcome to the world of informercial diet plans, wedding dance lessons, endless 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!

K.A. Barson's sparkling debut is "deliciously relatable, with a lot of laughter on the side." — Rita Williams-Garcia, New York Times best-selling author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142422656
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	07/03/2014
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.21(h) x 0.76(d)
Lexile:	HL570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

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

Visit her website at www.kabarson.com.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"With both humor and debth, the story of Ann's resilience, determination, and strength will inspire readers on their own journey toward a sparkly new life." —Susane Colasanti, author of Keep Holding On

"You'll love this book so much that you'll wish you had a friend like Ann." —Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times bestselling author

"Deliciously relatable, with a lot of laughter on the side." — Rita Williams-Garcia, New York Times best-selling author

* "Barson offers up a powerful and poignant novel about hope and love in the midst of common and controversial issues about weight gain, weight loss, and the ability to persevere despite our flaws and predispositions to “eating,” or not eating, our emotions. It is a book readers will not want to wait to finish, and when it is done, they will pick it up again." —VOYA, starred review

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

"With both humor and debth, the story of Ann's resilience, determination, and strength will inspire readers on their own journey toward a sparkly new life." —Susane Colasanti, author of Keep Holding On

"You'll love this book so much that you'll wish you had a friend like Ann." —Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times bestselling author

"Deliciously relatable, with a lot of laughter on the side." — Rita Williams-Garcia, New York Times best-selling author

* "Barson offers up a powerful and poignant novel about hope and love in the midst of common and controversial issues about weight gain, weight loss, and the ability to persevere despite our flaws and predispositions to “eating,” or not eating, our emotions. It is a book readers will not want to wait to finish, and when it is done, they will pick it up again." —VOYA, starred review

From the Publisher

When 16-year-old Ann's aunt and longtime partner announce they are getting married in two months, the size 17 teenager decides, "I'll need to lose forty-five pounds. By the middle of August." First, she turns to a line of expensive (and gross-tasting) products she saw in an infomercial. But when her impressionable little sister, Libby, develops dangerous eating habits, Ann opts to be a more positive role model—after all, "eating shouldn't be a punishment." Characters are often overly scripted, such as Ann's small-minded step-grandmother and Libby, who tells her teddy bear, "No more cake for you. You are too fat already." However, Ann's frank tone and levelheaded attitude should evoke compassion and understanding. First-time novelist Barson urges readers to think critically about women's obsession with food, diets, and weight, as well as societal prejudice directed at large people. When Ann's mother makes a snide comment about an overweight couple at a fast food restaurant, Ann thinks, "So what if they eat here everyday?.... Are they hurting anyone?" Ages 12–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 8–10—Sixteen-year-old Ann has a big problem. She has just two months to get into a bridesmaid dress for her Aunt Jackie's wedding. She needs to lose 45 pounds, which would be hard enough without the complications of a new job, a cute boy, a mean group of girls, and blended families that leave her caught in the middle-and left out. Her mother is obsessive about her own weight and as the summer wears on, Ann begins to see just how troubled her families are. Telling the story in Ann's wry, realistic voice, this debut author effectively captures society's preoccupation with size and the resulting alienation of an overweight teen. With a chain-smoking grandmother whose language is peppered with "fat-ass," relatives and friends who are slyly disparaging about her weight, and a mother who constantly prods her about dieting, the message could be heavy-handed. But Barson lightens the tone with almost cinematic humor, ensuring that even the most painful scenes have a slapstick edge. The ticking clock behind the wedding deadline gives the story real momentum, and while the ending is all nuptial jubilation, it is also a realistic summer's end for Ann.—Martha Baden, Prescott Public Library, AZ

School Library Journal

Ann has a weight problem and a mother problem--and the two issues are likely connected. A rising high school junior, Ann has fought (and lost) the weight battle since early childhood. Getting hilariously stuck in a too-small dress she tries on at the mall surely proves it. She clearly has a dysfunctional relationship with food, eating way too much whenever she's troubled--which is to say quite often--and blithely rationalizing her behavior. Unwisely determined to lose 45 pounds in two months in order to look good in a bridesmaid's dress when her aunt marries her girlfriend, Ann buys a diet program from an infomercial. Her account of suffering horrendous exercise videos and bad food is both funny and sad, and she falls off the wagon several times. She and her thin, driven mother don't, at first glance, seem to have much in common. But when Ann sees her 4-year-old stepsister telling her teddy bear he's too fat, she realizes both she and her mom have serious food issues that threaten her sister's well-being. That recognition, presented in an authentic first-person voice, gradually paves the way for believable changes as Ann re-evaluates failed friendships, her own role in consuming secretly spiked drinks at a party, and the potential for a relationship with a nice--and attractive--guy. While lessons are offered, they are deliciously coated in readable prose and a compelling plot. (Fiction. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews