Fat Cat

Fat Cat by Robin Brande is about a science project gone right.

Cat is a science fanatic. She loves science class and even works at the poison control hot line. But this year her science project is about to get a lot more personal. In class, each student has to choose a picture from the pile the teacher has collected, and the project idea has to come from the picture.

When Cat chooses a picture of Homo erectus - 1.8 million years ago - she designs a project (using herself as the subject) to go back to a diet that could have been eaten by early humans. The results are not too surprising - weight loss, more energy, and self-confidence.

Fat Cat could be seen as a plot to get readers to eat better, but for the fact that it is a great story - the fact that I now feel like eating more healthfully is just a coincidence! This is a great book with well-written characters that will appeal to readers. Brande has proven that her first novel's acclaim was not a fluke.

Brande, Robin. (2009). Fat Cat. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande is a great book. It is one I never would have picked up on my own (it is on the reading list for my YA Lit class) and I would have been missing out.

Mena Reece has been looking forward to high school for a long time. Now that she has finally arrived, it is not quite what she expected. None of her friends are speaking to her. She followed her conscience and others were implicated. Now she has been kicked out of her church and no one is speaking to her.

When she is partnered with Casey in her science class, her outlook on life will begin to change. Though she has never had much contact with people outside of her church, Casey decides it is his job to get her caught up on the important things in life - like seeing the Lord of the Rings movies.

Through a science project, Mena is introduced to Casey's family and a new way of life. She still believes in God, but is starting to see that there is more than one way to be a good person.

When her ex-friends stage a protest in science class - by turning their chairs backwards at the first mention of evolution - Mena has a chance to examine her own thoughts about life, science, religion and friendship.

Brande, Robin. (2007). Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.