"The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler

Virginia Shreves is average. She’s your average fifteen-year-old magazine-reading, physical activity-loathing, web-surfing, instant-messaging, junk food-scarfing adolescent. To top it all off, she has a crush on the computer genius and avid trombone player, Froggy Welsh the Fourth:
Froggy is medium height and slender. His ruffled blonde hair crests into a
cowlick. His dollop of a nose reminds me of a lamb’s snout. Especially
since it’s always pinkish, probably from so much tweaking. Whenever his
pubescent voice cracks, he sounds like a screeching chicken. Put his name
and his traits together and you’ve got a farm.
The two adolescents are nervously trying to make it to “second base”; however Virginia’s insecurities about her curvy figure cause her to keep holding Froggy back.

Although usually bright and optimistic, Virginia becomes insecure and self-loathing as her family and peers continuously show their disapproval towards her weight. Her family is definitely not average. Virginia describes herself as having “dishwater blonde hair, pale blue eyes, a roundish face, and a larger-than-average body,” compared to the rest of the thin, brunette, over-achieving Shreves. Her mom is an adolescent psychologist with a huge clientele, her dad is a “high-powered software executive,” and her brother and sister are successful college students who both look like Abercrombie & Fitch models.

Virginia’s mom eventually talks her doctor into putting her daughter on a diet. Her insensitive father is also excited about her anticipated weight loss, offering to take her shopping for new clothes, and telling her, “You’ve got a great face, Ginny. Think of how much prettier you could be if you lost twenty or thirty pounds.”

Virginia is not popular at her school, but she’s not a loser either. She’s determined that “If I had to chart it, I probably fall somewhere between regular and dorky.” However, she still has trouble finding acceptance among some of her peers because of her looks. For example, while sitting in the bathroom stall, she overhears Brie, the bulimic leader of the 10th grade Queen Bee Popular Girls, talk about how she would rather kill herself than be fat like Virginia.

Will Virginia be able to overcome the opinions of her family and peers and accept herself? Will she adhere to her new diet and turn into the ideal Shreve? Will she ever make it to “second base” with Froggy Welsh the Fourth? Virginia proves to be entertaining and strong-willed in her decisions that ultimately lead her to happiness.