Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett reads like the Sweet Valley twins decided to tackle eating disorders and health problems. Lara Ardeche is a beauty queen who thinks she’s also a nice, sweet person. However, when she starts to gain weight unexplainably, she finds out she’s not so nice after all. in fact, she’s angry, judgmental, and kind of mean. She keeps gaining weight as doctors try to figure out what’s wrong with her and her parents keep insisting that if she would just diet and exercise, she could get back to her perfect weight. Meanwhile, her boyfriend feels alienated and her family is falling apart. As I read this, I thought several times that I could figure out why she was gaining weight (midnight binge eating and denial of her anger at her parents) but that’s not the direction Bennett took this novel.

Praise for this book has been nearly unanimous, and it does do a pretty good job of capturing the rage and helplessness of gaining weight in an image-obsessed society. The light tone might make it easier for kids to relate to Lara’s problems.

If you’ve been the new kid or the fat girl, you might like this book.

Reviews by Students:

A review by a student in Illinois
A review by a student in Missouri
A review included on a page from a Rhode Island school

Reviews by Adults:

Annotation from the New York University Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database
Children’s Book Page review
Teenagers Today review

Related Links:

All Consuming page about the book (This site is not YA specific.)
Teen CyberCenter list of books about food and weight
A Kansas school’s list of books about eating disorders

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