What also works here is how gradual the changes are for Ann, not with weight loss, but with how she begins to see herself and her relationship to food. Readers also know that it isn’t going to be as easy as she thinks it will be. So when she sets out to quickly lose weight using a diet program she orders off the TV, readers can tell that she’s sort of at her wit’s end.

She’s completely aware of the fact that she uses food to compensate for emotions, and that this is a frequent problem in her life. It helps that Ann provides an authentic first-person narration. This mostly successful and inherently readable novel is recommendable. Luckily, Barson’s novel mostly escapes the terrible tropes that so many books about teens losing weight fall into. I’m going to be honest: there is no space on my shelf for books that pander to their audience about weight loss or shame characters or readers for being overweight. It’s difficult to strike the right balance, and it’s easy to become too didactic or present dangerous messages to teens. There’s a certain danger in crafting a YA novel about a character who wants to lose weight. What she discovers on her journey adds up to more than pounds lost. So when her aunt announces she’s getting married in 10 weeks, Ann decides to lose 45 pounds in two and a half months. Ann feels like her weight has been the driving force of her life.

45 Pounds by K.A. Barson