Fat Cat

Fat Cat by Robin Brande

Alfred A Knopf, 2009

327 pages

YA; Contemporary

Source: Checked out of my local library

Summary: Cat loves science so when she receives the chance to take an advanced science class, she wants to do her best (and beat former best friend Matt). But her project can also help her transform herself, through weight loss and eventually within herself.

Thoughts: I think the main reason I liked this book was because of the great relationship between Cat and her best friend Amanda. They are so supportive of each other and it is exactly the kind of relationship I wanted with someone when I was in high school. They each recognize their own strengths and cheer on the other's. I loved reading that. And while her parents weren't a big part of the book, they were largely supportive of her and they weren't completely neglectful in other ways.

I enjoyed reading about her experiment although I'm not sure about the scientificness of all of it (that is totally a word!) And it takes a detour in to dealing with boys.

There are five main boys; one is Cat's brother and one is Amanda's boyfriend but the other three are potential love interests for Cat. It's pretty obvious who she will end up with but her difficulties in navigating male-female romantic interaction were funny.

Overall: 4.5/5. I was very pleased with this book and I especially loved the friendship.

Cover: I love the purple but I'm not a huge fan of the cover.

Casting: I see "Matt" from Glee as Matt in this book, solely because of the name.