45 Pounds (More or Less)

45 Pounds (More or Less)
K.A. Barson
272 pages
Releases: July 11, 2013
Publisher: Viking
Source: Goodreads win!
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Ann has been overweight for as long as she can remember and even though she's tried many a fad-diet, not much has worked.  But when her aunt gets engaged and asks her to be in the wedding party, Ann knows it's time to lose that forty-five pounds once and for all.

Ann's big idea to lose weight this time around is a weight loss program from an infomercial that includes supplements and frozen meals.  But like all things advertised on TV, it turns out to be too good to be true.  Hello, when the "cheese" on your "lasagna" won't melt in the microwave, that's a bad sign.

More than the typical teenage weight loss saga, however, 45 Pounds is a story about relationships.  Ann's relationship with her mother isn't perfect, especially since her mother is a size six and complains eating will make her fat.  Meanwhile, her mother offers to try and help Ann by buying her outfits sizes too small so she has a goal to work towards.  And even though Weight Watcher's won't let her mother join because she isn't actually overweight, she tries to get Ann to do that with her as well.  As you can imagine, these things aren't great for Ann's self-esteem.  I can't imagine what it would be like to have a mother who could make you feel bad about yourself.  I'm sure Ann's mother didn't mean it like that, but that's obviously how it came off.  And how their relationship was affecting Ann's little sister was even more heartbreaking.  A six year old with a burgeoning eating disorder, so sad!

Ann also does a little bit of coming-of-age in 45 Pounds.  She finds a new job, new friends, new experiences, and dare I say, a new romance?  There are a few good life lessons in there, as well.

But, as you might be able to tell from the cover of the book, 45 Pounds isn't all serious and heart wrenching; not at all.  In fact, 45 Pounds had me literally laughing out loud at points.  Ann might have a weight problem, but she certainly has a sense of humor about it, even as she's imaging the sales girl at her favorite store calling 911 because "We have a girl here trapped in a dress!"

Four stars!  In some ways 45 Pounds was another YA novel about weight loss where the main character whines about her weight, but I found 45 Pounds to be extrememly enjoyable because it made me laugh and most, if not all, of the characters were realistic and endearing.  This is one that should probably be read by every high school girl ever, so if you know one, buy them this book when it releases July 11th.