Fat Cat

by Robin Brande

       Catherine may be really overweight, but she's also really smart.  She is in all AP classes with most of the same students every period, including Matt McKinney, her ex-best friend.  Her hardest class of the school year will be Mr. Fizer's Special Topics in Research Science class, where she is given a picture which will be the basis for a year-long research project.  For a student like Cat, who wants to go to a top-tier college, this project could be the thing that makes the difference between just passing the class and getting an outstanding recommendation and scholarship.  When Cat looks at the picture she has chosen, her heart sinks.  It is the picture of prehistoric people, naked and eating raw meat.  They are slim and muscular.  The woman appears strong and capable of hunting and taking care of herself--everything Cat isn't.  Cat stares at this picture most of the time she has to come up with her project proposal.  Her mind is blank.  The time is nearly up when she realizes exactly what she wants to do.  She will become her own project.  She will transform herself into a prehistoric woman--eat what they ate, live as closely to their lifestyle as it was practical to do.   For 207 days, Cat would eat vegetarian, walk most places, and live without her technology.  And at the end, she knew she would be a new person!  With the help of her best friend Amanda, Cat changes in just about every way possible, and gains the self-confidence she lost four years ago when she was betrayed.

       Funny, thought-provoking, and challenging, Fat Cat is a great novel for any teen, but especially for those who want to make themselves into someone better.  On the 2012 Texas Lone Star Reading list.  

       ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams