Big Fat Disaster

Gr 9 Up—Colby is fat, and her family never lets her forget it. Her family appears perfect on the outside—politician father, beauty-queen mother, two perfect sisters. Her father is in the midst of an important campaign when Colby accidentally discovers a photograph of him with another woman. Once her father's affair and misuse of campaign money are exposed to the media, the image her family has tried to maintain is destroyed. After her father abandons them, Colby, her sisters, and their mother have no choice but to move into a trailer behind her estranged aunt's house in Texas, and the family blames her for their misfortune. The teen must now struggle to survive in a community in which everyone hates her not only for her appearance or for what her father did, but for her very existence. Fehlbaum focuses on many of the issues that teenagers deal with today: body-image shaming, eating disorders, domestic violence, bullying, rape, depression, victim blaming, and suicide. Colby's story can be emotionally upsetting and frustrating; at times it seems as if she cannot catch a break. This book is best suited for mature readers.—Annalise Ammer, City of Rochester Public Libraries, NY