Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

There are not a lot of books that make me cry. But every once in a while, there is one that does. Fat Chance, Charlie Vega is a book that almost made me cry. I didn’t quite get to tears, but I was close. That’s because this book is so relatable! Who hasn’t at some point felt like the second choice (or third, or fourth . . .)? Who hasn’t felt there is something about themselves that makes them not as good as everyone else? If you haven’t ever felt either of these things at any moment in time, you are incredibly lucky. Charlie Vega has these feelings, and they are feelings I completely understand.      

One of the toughest battles is our own insecurities

There are many reasons Charlotte “Charlie” Vega feels she is not seen as being as good as everyone else. One of the biggest reasons is her weight. Even her mother is constantly on her about it. Charlie’s mother leaves her diet shakes and comments on what she is eating. Not exactly a way to get someone on the diet and exercise train, in my opinion. For Charlie and her mother, this attention to weight causes great difficulties in their relationship. Difficulties that may not be as severe if her father was still alive. 

Charlie’s best friend, Amelia, doesn’t help with Charlie’s insecurities. An athlete, Amelia is thin and beautiful. Boys especially like her, and they use Charlie to get closer to her. (Now that I think about it, this sounds like The Duff.) Even Charlie’s mother seems to prefer Amelia over her own daughter. This does not help the mother-daughter relationship in any way. 

Keeping Secrets
Kate Dorsey

A dream come true for Charlie . . . or not

Charlie believes things are finally turning around when her crush, Cal, asks her to an important dance. She is incredibly excited, but the people in her life don’t think the date is serious. They question Cal’s motives, making Charlie feel insecure.

Sadly, everyone else is right about Cal and Charlie is wrong. Cal was only using Charlie to get to Amelia. Something he actually told Charlie he was doing. But in her excitement about Cal and the dance, she missed his explanation about what was really going on. Devastated, Charlie doubts herself even more.              

Thankfully, Charlie does have Amelia around to support her through everything. And Charlie is there for Amelia too. Theirs is a long, close friendship, but there are things they never talk about. One of those things is how inferior Charlie feels next to all of Amelia’s perfection.

Three’s a crowd

Problems between Charlie and Amelia begin to rise when Charlie starts dating Brian, a boy from school she works with. This is the first time anyone she has liked has liked her back. Brian is Charlie’s first kiss, her first boyfriend, and she’s over the moon about it. She wants to spend every spare moment she has with Brian.

This upsets Amelia and leads to a big fight with Charlie. During the fight, Amelia reveals Brian asked her out the year before. All Charlie’s feelings of being second choice and second best are brought up with this revelation. She breaks up with Brian, making her feel lower than she ever did before.

Love each other and ourselves for who we are

Something wonderful I noticed in this book was the great mix of character backgrounds and lifestyles. The best part about it is these differences are just a part of life. Nothing is made a big deal of except the fact Charlie is half Puerto Rican and does not know Spanish. Otherwise, no one blinks over the fact Charlie’s mother is white and her father was Puerto Rican. No one has any problem with Amelia being Black and pansexual. Brian is Korean with lesbian parents, and no one looks at him differently because of it. None of these differences matter or are a subject for ridicule. In fact, Charlie's and Brian’s weights are more of a topic of conversation than anything else. It would be nice to see more of the world being this accepting.

In many ways I feel Fat Chance, Charlie Vega is an important book to read. Not only because of the differences and acceptance of those differences between friends, but also because the book talks about insecurities and how accepting ourselves as we are is just as important as accepting others. If not more.

There were parts in this book that hit close to home. Possibly too close. A feeling I suspect a lot of people will have when they read Fat Chance, Charlie Vega. For those who don’t, they should still read this book all the way through. They should read to remind themselves how important it is to accept ourselves and others as we are.