Body-Inclusive (Older)

(4) YA Fat Angie's mother ignores her, her classmates bully her, and her beloved sister is presumed dead in Iraq. So Angie is surprised when beautiful new girl KC Romance treats her like an equal and a friend--even a love interest. Charlton-Trujillo's choppy third-person narration is unique but distancing, allowing readers to observe Angie's traumas and successes but not fully experience them.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(3) YA After her girlfriend moves to Texas, Angie begins sophomore year "alone. Truly. Deeply. Painfully alone.” A road trip in an RV across Ohio--inspired by her sister, who was killed in Iraq--gives Angie perspective, confidence, new friends, and a new love interest. Angie bravely confronts bullies, grief, and even stage fright in this bold, suitably rebellious follow-up to Fat Angie.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(1) YA Aiden is not looking forward to starting public high school in the fall; his Catholic schooling heretofore has had its challenges--"jerks"--but at least it had become familiar. A summer at Boy Scout camp provides a break from his squabbling parents and a chance to breathe ("Everything is so quiet" in the woods) before school starts. Not so fast: camp also has bullies, whose taunts referencing Aiden's presumed sexual orientation are only exacerbated by Aiden's growing love for another camper, the athletic and sweet-natured Elias. Grownup LGBTs will know exactly what Aiden is going through, but this book speaks so well to those kids currently undergoing the ordeal. The graphic novel takes its time to fully pull readers into Aiden's psyche and his setting, which provides the pleasures of summer and friendship and nature along with the rewards of Scout activities. (Orienteering!) The drawing is expertly cartooned, and the palette is black and white with occasional, and then increasing, daubs and splashes of red whenever passions--of many kinds--ride high. The variation of small, storytelling panels and full-page and double-page spreads for big moments is wonderfully effective, and the climax--Aiden in a literal dark night of the soul in the outdoor chapel--is high drama indeed, emotionally powerful, proudly and extravagantly spiritual (and as Catholic as any Graham Greene epiphany). He comes through it to have one perfect day at camp to sustain him going forward. If you will forgive the editorial intrusion, I wish I had had this book fifty years ago.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Maggie is overweight, but she's no "shrinking violet fat girl." When her gay best friend Nash invites Tom into their inner circle, Maggie hopes Tom might be the guy for Nash. Tom instead turns his attention toward Maggie; their maybe-romance threatens Maggie and Nash's friendship. Maggie's likable voice and authentic struggle to accept herself lend this fresh romantic comedy considerable appeal.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2015

(3) YA Illustrated by Lisa Tegtmeier. The diverse group of thirty-one contributors to this collection are fat, and proudly so. Their essays, full-color illustrations, and poems advocate for societal acceptance and accurate media representation of fat people, and encourage readers to love themselves and their bodies. It’s a message that, while repetitive, is welcome. Each piece is accompanied by the contributor’s photo and bio; “Fat Fashion Resources” are appended.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) YA Willowdean is comfortable being a cashier at Harpy's Burgers & Dogs, a Dolly Parton fan, and a fat girl. But the attention of co-worker Bo makes her feel self-conscious; her insecurities increase when she enters the town's beauty pageant. Genuine, romantic, and with a dash of Texan charm, this novel celebrates being who you are while also acknowledging that it's difficult to do.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(2) YA Millie and Callie, Willowdean's classmates from Dumplin', alternate narrating this similarly girl-powered follow-up. Callie and her dance teammates vandalize Millie's family's gym. As the only one busted, Callie is sentenced to work alongside Millie at the gym for free. Murphy delivers gentle lessons about body acceptance, stereotyping, and forgiveness. But the focus is on Millie and Callie's friendship; after a rocky start, it's authentic, supportive, and noncompetitive.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(2) YA Waylon Brewer does not fit in at Clover City High School. He's fat; he's gay; and he loves drag, particularly a drag-competition TV show called Fiercest of Them All. But no one, not even his twin sister, Clementine, knows that he wants to actually perform in drag: that is, until his audition video for the show, starring "Miss Pumpkin Patch," is accidentally posted publicly on Facebook. It goes viral, naturally, earning Waylon immediate mockery at school and a nomination to prom court--as queen. Along with Clementine's girlfriend, a similarly gender-bending candidate for king, Waylon embraces the joke and campaigns to win the crown; it doesn't hurt that his cute classmate Tucker is a fellow nominee (for king). This third story set in Clover City, Texas, features a genuine and unbreakable sibling bond; a strong romantic connection; and a cast of well-developed supporting characters, including guest appearances from Willowdean (­Dumplin', rev. 11/15) and Callie and Millie (Puddin', rev. 5/18). Like those ­protagonists, Waylon learns to love who he is and refuses to settle for anyone who doesn't. Or as he tells Tucker: "I'm done being with people who are embarrassed by me...I'm too good to keep secret." It's easy to cheer for Waylon--who eventually triumphs both as himself and as Pumpkin--in this celebration of individuality and self-expression.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(1) YA All Nala has on her summer agenda is to pick a new hairstyle, spend time with her "cousin-sister-friend" Imani, and find love. Nala is not very inspired by Imani's activism or her activist friends, finding them pretentious--that is, until she meets Tye, a new member of Imani's Inspire Harlem group, with whom she has an instant connection. Nala tells a few little white lies about her own activism and volunteerism to help stoke the embers of attraction, but soon finds that being anyone other than your truest self makes real intimacy difficult. With her carefully created masquerade revealed, Nala is challenged to expand her definition of love. Watson (Piecing Me Together, rev. 7/17) offers a rom-com that is as much an ode to New York, especially Harlem, as it is to Black love. As Nala soon finds out, love is more than romantic relationships and extends to her family (she lives with her aunt's family due to a strained relationship with her mother), friends, and community, and most of all, to herself. A rare "fat" protagonist, Nala is "not down with the Say-It-Loud-I'm-Fat-and-I'm-Proud movement" but grows to embrace her body. Watson's deft ability to write characters that are relatable yet flawed offers readers a nuanced, non-saccharine love story.

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021