Teenage Waistland

Marcie, East, and Bobby are obese—though they don't like that word—and everything they do, think, and believe about themselves is determined by their weight. The possibility of rescue arrives when all three are selected for a clinical trial that allows them to undergo bariatric "Lap-Band" surgery, which physically restricts their eating and requires them to be heavily monitored by doctors and attend group support sessions. Through Marcie (smart, beautiful, and sharp-tongued), East (quiet, sweet, and terribly lonely), and Bobby (the football player ashamed of his moobies, or "man boobies"), Biederman (Unraveling) and debut author Pazer will win over readers, although East, whose obese mother refuses to leave the house, is this novel's center and soul. Friendships are tested, romance blooms, and hopes remain high as they navigate the complicated family pressures they face and changes that the surgery brings to their lives—not always for the better. Without sidestepping the seriousness of the teens' weight or the surgery they undergo, the authors offer an important and hopeful story about a little-discussed subject that affects many. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)