Fat Cat by Robin Brande

Published: Oct 2009
Publisher: Knopt Books for Young Readers
Pages: 330
Copy provided by: Library
Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

You are what you eat. . . .

Cat smart, sassy, and funny—but thin, she’s not. Until her class science project. That’s when she winds up doing an experiment—on herself. Before she knows it, Cat is living—and eating—like the hominids, our earliest human ancestors. True, no chips or TV is a bummer and no car is a pain, but healthful eating and walking everywhere do have their benefits.

As the pounds drop off, the guys pile on. All this newfound male attention is enough to drive a girl crazy! If only she weren’t too busy hating Matt McKinney to notice. . . .

Review:

I'm not even sure where I originally came across this book but I'm glad that I did. It was a nice change from my regular supernatural series titles....because sometimes you just need a change of scenery.

So many girls always worry about their weight and although I wouldn't recommend following a hunter-gatherer type diet, as Kat started out on, it was good to see Kat taking on a healthier lifestyle. The premise of the experiment was an interesting take for this novel. Interestingly, the author avoided using sizes or numbers to define Kat and show a comparison between what she weighed or what her size was prior to this project and afterwards. I liked this because the reader could use their own judgement rather than the author setting precedence for what one would consider overweight.

A couple things to mention about this book - I felt like the author was really pushing for a vegetarian lifestyle. It's not that I disagree with it or anything but it was definitely a pro-vegetarian lifestyle and I felt that she focused on that a little too much. Another thing was that I felt the book could have been about 30 pages shorter. Some of the story became redundant and Kat's obsession with Matt and McKinney and what he did YEARS ago was a little tiresome. Mind you, do you know many women who have been scorned who don't forget? It was a little bit lengthy for the content but still enjoyable nonetheless.

Try this one out. I haven't seen many reviews but Kat was kinda cute and she did go through many of the same scenarios that everyday teens encounter. Fun book with a few life lessons. Good teen reading.