Phat Acceptance
by Jess Mowry

Fourteen-year-old Brandon Williams is blond and blue-eyed with movie star good looks, a generous allowence, and a nice house in Santa Cruz… but he’s not happy. He wants to grow up to be a writer but his life offers him no inspiration. When Brandon makes the unexpected decision to attend public school, he knows no one and finds himself among the outcasts. His first friends are Travis, one of the few black kids at school, and maybe the fattest dude on the planet, and Bosco, a chubby, world-class surfer-dude, seemingly lost in space. At their sides Brandon sees a whole new world and experiences prejudice for the first time. It might be politically incorrect to dis a kid for being black, Latino, Jewish, or gay, but it’s fine to make a kid’s life an endless hell just because they’re fat?! There is something seriously wrong with that. Will "Phat Acceptance" be Brandon’s inspiration and cause to fight for? With "Health-nazi" parents and a secret cyber-place of "gainers, feeders, admirers, and encouragers," this big, big world is fascinating, sincere, and most excellent.