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Teen Fiction - Body, Mind & Health, Teen Fiction - Girls & Young Women, Teen Fiction - Romance & Friendship
Huge by Sasha Paley β€” book cover

Huge

by Sasha Paley
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Overview

Two Roommates.

One Goal.

Big Problem.

April's been saving all year to afford Wellness Canyon (a.k.a. Fat Camp), and she can't wait to start losing weight. Wil's wealthy health- nut parents are forcing her to go to the camp, but Wil is determined to get revenge by gaining weight.

They're suppose to work together to meet their weight- loss goals. But Wil's leading April on "hikes" to 7-Eleven, April's relentless pep is driving Wil to hit her secret stash of Godiva, and soon they're both crushing on the same guy. With April as committed to the cause as Wil is determined to undermine the system, this summer's going to be about more than just counting calories....

Synopsis

April and Wil couldn't be more different, but both of them are spending the summer at Wellness Canyon -- otherwise known as a weight-loss camp.

April knows that if she could just drop a little weight, she would be popular like she's always wanted. She's saved up for months to afford Wellness Canyon, which is more like a posh spa than a sleepaway camp. While April can't wait to jump into all the activities, Wil can't wait to get out of there. Her parents own a chain of high-profile fitness centers, and she's pretty sure her mom and dad sent her to Wellness Canyon to slim down before any embarrassing stories about their obese daughter hit the gossip pages. To get revenge on her parents, Wil decides she's going to gain weight at Wellness Canyon.

It's bad enough that they have to share a room, but things really get ugly when April and Wil both fall for Colin, the sarcastic camp hottie. Are April and Wil destined to be frenemies all summer, or can they overcome their sizeable differences? Filled with everything great about summer camp (and none of the calories), this is a funny, emotional novel about learning to accept yourself -- no matter what your size.

VOYA

Born to diet, this reviewer appreciates the isolated perspectives of Paley's protagonists sounded by svelte torturers who remind them of genetic heritage, conflicting willpower, the societal and self-imposed shame of plus-sized spandex. Skillfully employing alternating limited omniscient points of view, Paley introduces two teens leaving for Wellness Canyon, a pricey "fat camp" designed to cultivate healthy lifestyle and weight loss. Wil, the hostile, spoiled, deceptive daughter of wealthy fitness-club entrepreneurs, is railroaded into attending camp by parents who care more about image than feelings. April, daughter of a disabled, diabetic, single parent, earns funds to attend camp, determined to remake herself from a wannabe into a some-body. As roommates, the two clash on multiple levels, each unaware of the other's frailties. Together they discover that even Wellness Canyon has its cliques and intentional cruelties. The two main characters are well drawn and compelling; the supporting characters (staff, parents, other campers) are sketchier or superficial. Each chapter opens with snippets from a character's food and exercise journal, Wil's providing delightfully cynical smiles. Cover art, a triple-layer s'more overlaid with the universal sign for no, invites readers to experience a different kind of summer camp. Friendship, acceptance, and health themes are clear and usually not addressed with heavy-handedness. A prank with laxatives, similar to one involving recently prosecuted real-life New York teens, results in rather mild admonishment. Overall the book is an intriguing adventure of two unlikely bunkmates bound by size and unrealized needs for companionship.

About the Author, Sasha Paley


Sasha Paley grew up in Chicago, where she spent a lot of time writing in

cafés and attempting to flirt with guys from Northwestern. Sasha now

lives in New York City, where she still spends a lot of time writing in

cafés and working on her flirting skills.

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Editorials

VOYA - Patti Sylvester Spencer

Born to diet, this reviewer appreciates the isolated perspectives of Paley's protagonists sounded by svelte torturers who remind them of genetic heritage, conflicting willpower, the societal and self-imposed shame of plus-sized spandex. Skillfully employing alternating limited omniscient points of view, Paley introduces two teens leaving for Wellness Canyon, a pricey "fat camp" designed to cultivate healthy lifestyle and weight loss. Wil, the hostile, spoiled, deceptive daughter of wealthy fitness-club entrepreneurs, is railroaded into attending camp by parents who care more about image than feelings. April, daughter of a disabled, diabetic, single parent, earns funds to attend camp, determined to remake herself from a wannabe into a some-body. As roommates, the two clash on multiple levels, each unaware of the other's frailties. Together they discover that even Wellness Canyon has its cliques and intentional cruelties. The two main characters are well drawn and compelling; the supporting characters (staff, parents, other campers) are sketchier or superficial. Each chapter opens with snippets from a character's food and exercise journal, Wil's providing delightfully cynical smiles. Cover art, a triple-layer s'more overlaid with the universal sign for no, invites readers to experience a different kind of summer camp. Friendship, acceptance, and health themes are clear and usually not addressed with heavy-handedness. A prank with laxatives, similar to one involving recently prosecuted real-life New York teens, results in rather mild admonishment. Overall the book is an intriguing adventure of two unlikely bunkmates bound by size and unrealized needs for companionship.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9
April saved every cent she made for nearly a year to attend Wellness Canyon, southern California's most elite "fat camp." Wil's parents own a high-brow chain of fitness clubs and cannot hide their shame about their daughter's weight, and so they send her there. April believes fitness camp will change her life, but Wil intends to be the first camper to actually gain weight. Predictably, the teens become roommates. They contend with their opposite views of the point of the program and their mutual crush on Colin, one of the popular crowd, which includes a group of pretty girls who hardly seem to need weight loss at all. The usual assortment of antics ensues, with the roommates betting on who will win the hunky boy's heart, temporarily blinding them both to the true benefits of their temporary home. Overuse of certain words, including "heavy" and "thick" to describe the Wellness Canyon campers, permeates the text, but Paley creates likable characters who are easy to relate to.
β€”Sarah KrygierCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A cliched, moralistic tale of lessons learned at fat camp. Two girls spar and then bond as summer roommates. Perky April has "saved all year . . . all of [her] birthday money. Christmas. Everything" to pay for Wellness Canyon because she wants to be thin and popular. (How birthday and Christmas gifts could possibly total "seven grand" for a girl with a single mother on disability is distractingly inexplicable.) Wil, in contrast, has rich parents who own a sleek gym chain; her fatness is their shame, so they force her to go. Both April and Wil lose weight over the summer, while they obnoxiously insult each other, become friends, kiss the same boy, plot revenge on him, fight more and make up. Paley unequivocally touts weight loss and repeatedly uses words like "waddled" about her fat characters. She also displays ignorance of physiology, equating fitness unquestionably with thinness. Appalling and simplistic. (Fiction. 11-13)

Book Details

Published
July 1, 2010
Publisher
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pages
272
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781442417182

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