MY IDEAL BOYFRIEND IS A CROISSANT

Bluebelle joins a growing cadre of body-positive YA protagonists in Dockrill’s novel, originally published in the U.K. as Big Bones (2018).

Sixteen-year-old Londoner BB is fat. She states as much purely as a matter of fact. Though confident in her size, she is less confident about her future. Rather than return to school after summer holidays, BB wants to stay on as an apprentice at the local cafe where she works. When the nurse at her wellness checkup suggests she keep a food diary to help her control her weight and complications from asthma, it quickly becomes a bargaining chip: BB will keep the diary and go to the gym in exchange for her mother’s blessing for her apprenticeship scheme. The food diary quickly morphs beyond a log of her food intake, as chapters headed with a variety of food items, from trifle to panini, serve as launchpads for BB’s running musings on food, friendships, family, and life in general. This is a device trying too hard to be clever, as the foods referenced often make only a passing appearance. BB is often long-winded, turning what would otherwise be a fun coming-of-age beach read into a tome. BB and most of the supporting cast read as white, though her best friend, Camille, is identified as mixed-race with an Afro.

Though the sparkling heroine does not need to lose weight, the book itself could do with some slimming.