Author: Natalie Kath
Pages: 128
Pub: 2011; Stone Arch
Genre: Young Adult - Realistic
Etc: Net Galley
The Short of It
Kat is losing weight this summer.
The Long of It
“Kat is just like other fourteen-year-old girls. Except this summer, she's spending four weeks at a Health Camp . . . otherwise known as fat camp. Can she lose the weight she needs to be able to do the things everyone else does? Or will she let her body control her?”
The above is what was written on Net Galley. Unfortunately, that summary is not ENTIRELY truthful. The story IS about Kat and her desire to lose weight, but her parents don’t send her to fat camp. They say they can’t afford it. Instead she is given a gym membership and she journals her experience.
The Thoughts about It
This book was a quick read. Like, maybe forty minutes tops? And what I can give it positively is that it was a decent portrayal of how to lose weight healthily. I mean, Kat doesn’t take any pills or starve herself. She’s determined to lose weight “the right way”. Oh, and I definitely like how there was a love interest but the whole mentality of it was: it’s not about the boy to make you feel good about yourself, it’s about what you can do to make you feel good about yourself. That was right on.
BUT…the book was childish. Seriously. It would be perfect reading material for an eight year old, but I don’t know if I’d want an eight year old obsessed with their weight.
I know that weight loss is the buzz now with our obesity rates skyrocketing. And I totally dig the healthy way of eating being presented…especially cuz it’s obvious that it’s a lifestyle choice not a quick lose it fad. But overall this book was so disappointing.
I went to the author’s website and it appears that she’s currently blogging her weight loss. Here’s the thing. . . for as much as I didn’t like the book, I really dug her blog writing. Wish there was that much life and spunk in the novel.
Shame the book didn't live up to the blog.
ReplyDelete