Title by Author: How I Got Skinny, BecameFamous and Fell Madly in Love by
Ken Baker
Series (if applicable): none
Publisher: Running
Press Kids
Publication Date: April 2014
Page Count: 272
Source: netgalley.com
Blurb: "Thick. Heavy. Big boned. Plump. Full
figured. Chunky. Womanly. Large. Curvy. Plus-size. Hefty." To
sixteen-year-old Emery Jackson, these are all just euphemisms for the big
"F" word—"fat." Living on a Southern California beach with
her workout fiend dad, underwear model sister, and former model mother, it is
impossible for Emery not to be aware of her weight.
Emery is okay with how things are. That is, until her "momager" signs her up for Fifty Pounds to Freedom, a reality show in which Emery will have to lose fifty pounds in fifty days in order to win the million dollars that will solve her family's financial woes. Emery is skeptical of the process, but when the pounds start to come off and the ratings skyrocket, she finds it hard to resist the adoration of her new figure and the world of fame. Emery knows that things have changed. But is it for the better?
Emery is okay with how things are. That is, until her "momager" signs her up for Fifty Pounds to Freedom, a reality show in which Emery will have to lose fifty pounds in fifty days in order to win the million dollars that will solve her family's financial woes. Emery is skeptical of the process, but when the pounds start to come off and the ratings skyrocket, she finds it hard to resist the adoration of her new figure and the world of fame. Emery knows that things have changed. But is it for the better?
My Interest in
this book is: sounded like a fun read!
My Review:
Emery (named
after the emery board one finds in a nail salon) has just been told that she is
now considered obese by the
family doctor. Sure, she’s tried diets,
but the call of “Coronary Highway” is too strong. Who wouldn’t want to eat two double cheeseburgers,
a large fry and a diet coke (It is, after all, the Standard American
Diet)? Well, everyone in Emery’s
dysfunctional family doesn’t eat that way.
Her botox-injecting
mom wants to sign up the family up for a reality television show that features
Emery losing 50 pounds in 50 days. Emery
wants no part of this because she doesn’t mind who she is. Her boyfriend, Ben, is a gentle giant, and
they are both so not the Highland
Beach norm of over-processed humans with their augmented body parts and fake
faces. However, when Emery sees that
they are about to be kicked out of their house, Emery realizes that half of the
prize money can save the family home. Emery
agrees to be a part of the madness of a reality tv show.
While I found
Emery as somewhat vulgar, she was trying to help others at the same time. You got to see some good insights from a 16
year-old through her vlog posts on self-acceptance. That is one aspect of this
book that I quite enjoyed. I liked how
Emery talked about trying to find acceptance because of her weight. It was empowering what Emery learned along
the way about herself and how she shared it with her audience.