From School Library Journal Grade 8 Up—Rotund brainiac Catherine "Cat" Locke, a junior, becomes her own science-fair project "guinea pig," trying to live a prehistoric lifestyle for seven months. Out for revenge on former best friend/crush and detested rival Matt McKinney, she gives up cars, phones, TV, computers, and processed foods in her determination to win this year's competition. Cat's slimmed-down body attracts several boys' attention, and she expands her project to observe the effects on herself and others, coached in the social graces by her beautiful, brilliant girlfriend Amanda. Delightful character depth and humorous plot twists make this a satisfying read as Cat confronts the real issues separating her from Matt. Brande precisely captures the different psyches of teenage guys and girls, weaving fitness, friendship, and forgiveness around the scientific method.—Joyce Adams Burner, National Archives at Kansas City, MO Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Read more About the Author Robin Brande is a former trial attorney who is also the author of the young adult novel Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. Robin was herself an overweight teen, and knows that a smart girl can figure out a smart way to be fit. She lives in Tucson, Arizona. Read more Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 1 "You're all good little machines," Mr. Fizer told us. He sat there this afternoon in his tweed jacket and his white shirt and plaid bow tie and glared at us over the top of his half-glasses. Which was a seriously scary sight."You know how to take tests," he said. "You know how to memorize facts and mimic everything your teachers have taught you--but do any of you really know how to think? We're about to find out."I know I should have been concentrating. I should have kept my eyes locked on Mr. Fizer, practically reading his lips to make sure I caught every word. His class is going to be the hardest thing I've ever taken in my life.But sometimes my body parts have a mind of their own. And there my eyes were, straying off to the right, seeking out that one particular face in the crowd the way they always do, no matter how many times I've told them to stop. And since this was a crowd of only nine, he was way too easy to find.Unfortunately, right at that moment Matt McKinney was looking back at me, and our eyes met for just that one split second, and even though I instantly looked away, it was too late. I had to see that subtle little smirk of his, and it made me wish more than anything I had something sharp and heavy to throw at his head."Here are the rules," Mr. Fizer said.As if he needed to tell us. Every one of us understood the deal long before today--Fizer's Special Topics in Research Science class is legendary, not the least because every few years someone has to run out of there on the first day and vomit because of the stress.I had a light lunch."When I call your name," Mr. Fizer said, "you will come up, close your eyes, and choose a picture. You will then have one hour in which to devise your topic. You may not use the Internet or any other resources. You may not discuss it with your classmates. You will have only your own creativity to rely upon."We do it this way," he continued, "because true scientific progress comes through innovative thinking, not merely reciting what other scientists have taught us. Albert Einstein believed that imagination is more important than knowledge, and I agree. We must always push ourselves to discover more. Understood?"No one bothered answering. We were all too busy staring at the folder he'd just opened on his desk, revealing this year's Stack.The Stack. It's your whole future resting on a pick of the cards. Only in Mr. Fizer's case, the deck of cards is actually a stack of pictures he's gathered throughout the year--pages torn out of magazines like National Geographic and Nature and Science.If you luck out, you can end up with a picture that applies to a field you're already interested in--like for me, insects and their co-evolution with plants. It's what I spent the whole summer helping -research in one of the biology labs at the university. I figured if I ended up with a picture even remotely dealing with either plants or bugs, I'd be able to use everything I just learned about fig wasps.On the other hand, you can also end up with something completely outside your subject field, which is why people like George Garmine had to flee the room last year to puke.Because if you bomb, you might as well plan a career as a drone in some laboratory at some obscure college in a town nobody's heard of, because you're never going to get the premium offers. But if you do well--I mean really well--you can not only get Mr. Fizer's recommendation for college applications, but you might also win your category at the science fair and then go on to internationals. Some of Mr. Fizer's students have done just that. And then you have a great shot at winning scholarships and impressing college recruiters, so that even people like me can end up at places like MIT or Duke or Harvard or wherever. So yeah, it's a big deal.We all just wanted to get on with it already, but Mr. Fizer still had one more rule to tell us about."This is not a time for teamwork," he said. "This is a competition. This is your chance to show bold thinking and a true commitment to your science. For the next seven months you will work independently and in secret. I am the only person you will share any details with until it is time to reveal your project at the science fair in March. Is that clear? Good. Miss Chang, we will begin with you."Lindsay wiped her palms against her pants and walked so slowly to the front of the room it was like she'd just been told to come up there and drink poison. She stood in front of Mr. Fizer's desk, did the palm swipe one more time, then reached into the Stack.You could tell Mr. Fizer was watching to make sure she kept her eyes closed. Lindsay pulled out a picture, pressed it against her chest, and went back to her seat without even looking at what she'd chosen. That seemed like a good strategy--no point in freaking out in front of everyone if it turned out to be really bad.Next he called up Farah, Alexandra, Margo, and Nick. Then me.I eased between the lab tables and walked to the front, and that's when I started to think about my butt. And about how Matt McKinney was no doubt looking at it right at that moment and noticing how much larger it was than the last time he saw it. Seven more pounds over the summer, thank you very much. When you're working in a lab as intense as the one where I was, all you really have time for every day is the vending machines and the Dairy Queen on the corner. Everyone at that lab was a pudgeball.So I stood in front of Mr. Fizer's desk, my hand shaking, thinking about my future and how it was about to change, but really thinking more about my thighs and gigabutt and trying to pull my shirt down a little lower to cover them, and finally I closed my eyes and reached into the Stack. That's when I heard Matt clear his throat, which sounded like he was suppressing a laugh, and my hand jerked from where it was, and I suppose that makes it fate that I chose the picture I did.I couldn't look. I clutched the paper against my chest and went back to my seat and did my best to control my breathing. Read more
S**U
Fantastically Smart and Funny Fat-to-Healthy Tale!
Brilliance like this unfortunately still rarely exists in YA lit, and it's a real shame, because YA lit needs more authors like Robin Brande. FAT CAT is funny, wise, super-intelligent, and heart-stoppingly romantic. It's the kind of book that makes you smile weeks after reading it as you remember why you still enjoy and read YA contemporary realistic fiction.Readers of all shapes and sizes (body and brain) will be able to connect with Cat. Hers is the voice of a levelheaded, smart, yet insecure teenager. Brande does not dumb down her fictional teenagers, with the surprising yet joyful result that they will end up appealing to everyone. How often do we get to read about smart girls who are good at and into math and science? Not often enough; my inner physicist is jumping with happiness even as I write this and reflect on FAT CAT.Cat--and thus, us readers--learns an important lesson without sounding aggressively moralistic. The theme of FAT CAT is a powerful one, hinting at the harmful effects of our modern-day materialistic, processed consumerist culture. Cat's development from bitter girl with a low body image to a happier, healthier, more energetic, and more creative young woman may just about turn smart readers off of junk food. I honestly laid off the Oreos for several weeks after reading this book, so unappealing the thought of sweets were to me. Rarely does a book have so strong a hold on me in the rest of my life!The first half of the story focuses on Cat's science project, while the second half discusses more her relationships with other people. The change of scope is a little bizarre and disconcerting, most likely because the science part is so wonderful to read, but I appreciated the character development of this book. The main "cast" of characters is great, particularly Cat's best friend, as well as Cat's romance.FAT CAT is a story you catch yourself thinking about randomly even weeks after reading it. It's also the book you'll want to talk about to your friends, your mother, your teacher, that random middle-aged lady sitting next to you at the bus stop....It's the book that you'll hold up and say, "See? This is what quality YA literature is like. Now excuse me while I reread it; you may get your own copy elsewhere, if you'd like."
S**F
adored Brande's debut novel and found myself loving this even more
Catherine has won science fairs in the past, and this year her drive to succeed is no different. She wants to compete, have her plan approved by her picky science teacher, and transform her pudgy body in the process. She does all this in the most drastic way. By recreating the lifestyle of her early ancestors, Cat performs an experiment on herself. Living like the early hominids, she stops eating processed foods, gives up cosmetics, forgoes appliances and walks everywhere. Living like a Neanderthal is painful, but she sticks with it. Matt, a science rival and former best friend, seems to be foiling her goals. And she doesn't know how to confront him about how he hurt her years ago.As Cat sheds weight, she gains a new perspective on her health, friendships and latest romances. I've read other novels that incorporate weight loss, but this one is different because of it's depth of characters. I enjoyed Cat, her best friend Amanda, and the other major as well as minor players in the novel. I adored Brande's debut EVOLUTION, ME & OTHER FREAKS OF NATURE and found myself loving this even more.
L**Y
WhatMissKelleyIsReading: bookitty.typepad.com
Catherine Locke wants, more than anything, to beat her rival and former best friend Matt McKinney in the science fair, but her task is made even more difficult when she's assigned the topic Homo erectus, early man from well over a million years ago. As she looks at the image of her topic, however, what she finds herself doing is envying the thin figure of the ancient female. Cat is not thin. So Cat embarks on a year-long journey of transformation, living the same as early man without technology or processed foods, using her own body as the source of her research.I loved this book. I loved Cat, who is smart and funny and honest and unabashedly ambitious. Her family is normal, her friends are genuine, and her transformation from "Fat Cat" (the cruel nickname given to her by her middle school tormentors) to hot Cat at the end of her junior year is utterly believable. We all want to believe that the scars of 7th grade don't last that long, but they do, and so watching Cat come to terms with the past raises this book above the typical Cinderella story. Every teenage girl should read this book.
A**R
Could Not Put It Down!!!
I honestly loved how this book had so much science, but it was intriguing and easy to understand. I also like how the author only had a total of maybe 5 swear words in the book and how she had the romance interlaced so it wasn't too much, but had the perfect amount for the plot. This book truly communicates how it feels to be overweight, and in my opinion is fairly realistic for being a fiction book.
K**S
Good Book
Love the story :) the characters are believable and although it’s a teen romance, I feel like it’s applicable to young adults as well.
A**R
Great Book
Loved it. Great story, very interesting and intriguing ideas, didn't want to put the book down.
V**L
Easy and fun to read!
Absolutely loved it! Story stayed funny and thoughtful! If I have some critique, I would like to see better representation of bigger people.
C**R
Really smart, indelible heroine
I loved this book and its main character. I loved watching Cat's growth (and loss). The science elements were really fun to read, but I also loved the romantic elements, as Cat gets in touch with her inner hot girl, and her friendship with her best friend Amanda--who is the kind of delightfully human, supportive and caring best friend we'd all love to have. All in all a beautifully done and really engaging book--well worth the read! Kudos too to the author for providing some sources for readers interested in reading more on the subject of Cat's research.
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