Fat Chance

Twelve-year-old Tessa is fat, isolated and teased at school because of her weight. Jasper is skinny and far too perceptively adult to be accepted by his peers. This is the basis of their relationship until Tessa decides that losing weight will solve all her problems, including her parents' impending divorce. This book offers an accurate insight into a child's world and the school scenes are particularly realistic. The dangers of dieting to excess are also honestly and graphically described. Tessa finds that being thin makes her one of the crowd she's despised for so long and the book ends on a note of cautious optimism, celebrating self - with all its flaws.