Fat Girl on a Plane

April 23, 2018
Cookie Vonn, a 19-year-old aspiring clothing designer, has spent years advocating for girls who don’t fit the stereotypical standard of beauty promoted by the fashion industry. Before her own significant weight loss on the “NutriNation” diet, she was often dismissed and ridiculed for her size. Chapters alternate between the period before Cookie’s weight loss—including the humiliating flight when she was told that she was too large for one plane seat—and after. In the present day, doors are opening for Cookie now that she is thin. She takes a sabbatical from college to team up with a much older, established designer to create a plus-size collection, but she realizes that losing weight isn’t the magical cure-all she thought it would be. As she and the designer enter a sexual relationship, she worries that her life is beginning to mirror that of her thoughtless supermodel mother, even as she fights to give plus-size women a voice. Readers will appreciate deVos’s characterization of Cookie, who realistically struggles to stay true to herself, regardless of the numbers on the scale. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.