Fat Boy Chronicles is a novel with a message. Strike that. It's a novel with many messages, all aimed at teenagers who deal with "issues."   

Main character Jimmy Winterpock is optimistic at the beginning of the school year. He's moved away from his middle school, where he was teased unmercifully because of his weight, and looks forward to a fresh start at a new high school. The book is written in journal entries to his freshman English teacher, who has asked her students to journal three and a half pages each week all year long. The reader gets to know Jimmy, his family, and his friends through the pages of his journal, and watches him deal with his obesity, peers, and many issues that seem to face teenagers.

Jimmy writes as a typical teenager. He has a good relationship with his family, tries hard to get along with others in school and to do well in his classes, attends youth group, and appears to be a genuinely nice boy. He is honest in his journal writing, and makes for a pleasant narrator. The authors make an attempt to address issues they feel are relevant to teenagers today: obesity, bullying, cutting, suicide, alcoholism, abuse, and peer pressure.   Jimmy encounters these issues via his friends, primarily, and for the most part is a good model for treating others kindly, encouraging them, and helping them through their problems.

The foremost issue in the book is Jimmy's obesity and the bullying that comes along with it. Scenes from the book are difficult to read for anyone who's been bullied, as it reminds the reader of those feelings in a very personal way. It's very easy for the reader to put himself in Jimmy's place. Midway through the book, Jimmy decides to work on weight loss, and his changes in behavior and eating habits are chronicled in his journal.  

Fat Boy Chronicles does deal with some serious issues, most mentioned above. It seems that every teen in Jimmy's life has a serious issue to deal with. One friend is a cutter, another has an abusive father who commits suicide and an alcoholic mother. There is a bit of language (one or two words). Jimmy briefly thinks of suicide when the bullying is at its worst, but discards that idea quickly. An unnecessary sub-plot early in the book revolves around a murder in their small town, and Jimmy's attempts with a friend to solve the murder. Kids drink at a party, and sex is briefly mentioned (though nothing graphic).

This is not a "Christian book." Jimmy attends youth group, but it's primarily portrayed as a fun place to hang out with a good band on Wednesday nights. Nothing of Biblical substance is mentioned, and Jimmy does not mention a spiritual life, other than church and youth group attendance.

If a teen struggles with bullying or obesity, this book might be one to encourage them in their weight loss. It portrays Jimmy's weight-loss as a gradual process, with emotional and physical discoveries along the way. However, the numerous other "issues" encountered in the book distract from this main issue, and give it the feel of a public service announcement.

Fat Boy Chronicles is not necessarily a book that a teen would pick up and read of their own accord. However, if you are the parent of a teen who deals with bullying or obesity, this book may be one to read together and discuss. It could make for a good springboard for talking with your teen about some difficulties that they face.

Product Review by Hillary Harm, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August, 2010