Aw, Willowdean! You can't help but smile and nod your head as you read this book. Will's dad isn't around, and she has spent her whole life with her mom and her very overweight Aunt Lucy. When we meet her, Lucy has just died of a heart attack, and Willowdean is reeling. She shared a special bond with Lucy, and she misses her terribly. Willowdean has weight issues of her own, and it's never really bothered her before, but then she meets Bo. He's gorgeous, and even though she thinks he's way out of her league, he likes her. All of a sudden, her insecurities rear their ugly heads. She can't bring herself to tell her best friend, Ellen, that Bo has been kissing her behind the dumpster at work, and the secret makes her feel farther and farther away from her tiny, beautiful friend. One day, while going through her Aunt Lucy's things, Will finds an application for the local beauty pageant, and gets a crazy idea--one that will turn just about all of her relationships on their heads.
The best part of this book has to be the characters, and while it's probably billed more as a romance, it's the friendship story of Ellen and Willowdean that steals the show. The group of misfits that Will hangs out with are hilarious and believable. Her flawed but loving mother is perfectly drawn. In fact, the only character who feels a bit flat to me is Bo. Even Mitch, the other third of Will's love triangle, is just so spot on. This book definitely deserves all the praise it's been getting recently!
(This one won't be in our middle school library, but you can find it at the public library or at a bookstore.)
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