From Minor Roles to Main Characters: Fat Representation in YA Literature

Meet Our Contributors:

Katy Bigham is a former middle language arts teacher and recently earned her master’s degree in English from Brigham Young University. Dawan Coombs is former high school English and reading teacher and current professor of English at Brigham Young University where she teaches courses in young adult literature. Over the last ten years Katy and Dawan have collaborated on research examining the power of young adult literature to improve pedagogy and change the lives of adolescents. This post features research from Katy’s thesis. 

From Minor Roles to Main Characters: Fat Representation in YA Literature 
​by Katy Bigham and Dawan Coombs

The first year of my grad program I, Katy, took a class from Chris Crowe that explored the history of young adult literature. He assigned each student to read a touchstone text that exemplified different eras in YAL history, and I was assigned Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack. As I read, one of the core messages of the book immediately became clear: Dinky Hocker would be happier if she was skinnier. 

“Yikes,” I thought. “Not great.”    

My love of YAL, combined with my interest in body size representation (shaped largely by my own lived adolescent and adult experience as someone fat) motivates my curiosity about how readers and teachers approach body size. I wondered if the attitude characterized the time period, which lead me to revisit books I read as a teenager, published from the 1990s-2000s. I realized that in those YAL texts, fat characters were either not present or their body size was treated as the joke, or problem to be fixed. They were rarely the hero, love interest, or center of the story. 

​This realization reminded me of something Jason Reynolds said in a Washington Post interview about Black children. He explained he wrote to depict Black children in nuance and complexity, 
​
As beautiful and broken and happy and terrified and angry and joyous and funny and fearful...I do that intentionally because I think that it's important that we continue to push against certain narratives, certain stereotypes, and the easy route in terms of the way that we depict Black kids...They deserve to be nerds and weirdos and artists and everybody else, right? They deserve to be disabled. They deserve to have learning differences. They deserve to have gender differences. They deserve all of the things that I want to make sure they be given an opportunity.” (Givhan, 2022)

I agreed with his statement, but I also wondered if I could substitute “Black children” with “fat kids.” Shouldn’t fat kids be more than the side character? The joke? The problem? Shouldn’t they be seen in all their humanity? 

As I examined the organizations and individuals at the center of efforts to promote diverse representations in YAL, I discovered that–even though life in a fat body is vastly different than life in a straight-sized body–none of these organizations included body size as a form of diversity. Areas of diversity represented included race (Barry, 1998; Stallworth, et al., 2006; Thomas, 2016); socioeconomic class (Hinton & Berry, 2004; Silva & Savtiz, 2019); gender and sexual orientation (Batchelor, et al., 2018; Knox, 2019); physical and mental abilities (Curwood, 2013; Louie, 2005); religion (Auguste, 2013; Campbell & Crowe, 2015); and cultural and linguistic differences (Dong, 2005; Sharma & Christ, 2017). However, body size diversity remains noticeably absent from most conversations about diverse books. Fat characters lack representation in YAL and consequently, classrooms. 

Despite this omission, adolescents of diverse body sizes fill our classrooms. A 2021 national study classified 16.1% of children and adolescents between 2 and 19 years of age as overweight, 19.3% as obese, and 6.1% as severely obese ((National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 2021). Roughly as many overweight adolescents reside in the US as Black adolescents (Office of Population Affairs, n.d.) and four times as many overweight adolescents as those who identify as non-Christian (Pew Research Center, 2020). 

One of the most important reasons to celebrate body diverse literature is because one of the places where the fat and straight-size experiences differ most is within the classroom. Weight discrimination is perhaps one of the most accepted forms of discrimination in our society today (Puhl & Latner, 2007), including in school. Fat students experience higher rates of bullying and social ostracization with their peers (Harrist et al., 2016), but the negativity they face is not limited to classmate interactions. Fat students also face higher rates of negative interactions with teachers, as early as kindergarten (Yu, 2021). Teachers often perceive fat students as in need of more remedial help, with higher rates of behavioral problems, and more likely to skip school (Kenney et al., 2017). These perceptions have consequences; a 2019 study determined that teachers assigned lower grades to overweight students compared to students of a healthy weight (Finn et al., 2020). Clearly, teachers themselves are not exempt from the fatphobia woven throughout society. 

​However, despite this very visible identifier in many young peoples’ lives, few YA novels feature fat protagonists. In the early days of YA literature, fat characters like Marcy in Paula Danziger’s, The Cat Ate my Gymsuit (1974), Dinky in M.E. Kerr’s Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!, (1972) and Gabby in Patti Stren’s, I Was a 15 Year Old Blimp (1985) presented the fat experience as problematic, and were only celebrated when they begin to lose weight and conform to societal beauty standards. This message was highly troublesome, and not one that needs to be celebrated for YA readers (Beineke, 1998). In more recent years, characters such Willowdean in Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’ (2015), Charlie in Crystal Maldonado’s Fat Chance, Charlie Vega (2021), and Nala in Renée Watson’s Love is a Revolution (2021), promote body positivity and depict fat young adults with enriching and coming-of-age experiences unrelated to their size (Rogers, 2018). While Willowdean, Charlie, and Nala prove happier than their predecessors, their journey often includes a measure of overcoming internalized fatphobia, which may unintentionally reinforce fatness as inherently negative (Parsons, 2016). 

These findings suggest a need for us as teachers to expand our definitions of diversity within literacy education to include body size as a meaningful marker of identity. A clear fat bias exists in the United States, which has increased over the last ten years, even though biases such as gender, sexual identity, and racial biases have decreased (Charlesworth, 2019). It’s even more critical for educators to include body size in their consideration of diverse texts–both so fat students see themselves in YAL stories (Barry, 1998) and to help all students develop critical discernment and empathy (Ghiso et al., 2012). YA literature posesses significant power to shape how students understand and perceive bodies–their own and those of others. When body diverse stories are taught thoughtfully and without apology, they offer students opportunities to not only see themselves reflected, but to question the narratives which for so long have defined which bodies are worthy of attention, love, and joy. 

Darius the Great is Not Okay (2018) by Adib Khorram: This novel focuses on Darius, a Persian-American, clinically depressed, fat teenager struggling to find his place in the world. The story focuses on family, friendship, and belonging Recommended for grades 8-12.

​Fat Angie (2014) by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo: Winner of the 2014 Stonewall Book Award, this book takes readers on Angie’s journey to find closure on her sister’s death and to find her own solutions to bullying, family struggles, and her future.  The first book in the Fat Angie series, recommended for grades 9-12.  

​Gabi, a Girl in Pieces (2014) by Isabel Quintero: Protagonist Gabi leaves readers laughing and crying as she navigates life as a Mexican American teen, wrestling with cultural and societal expectations, identity, body image, and sexuality. Winter of the William C. Morris Award and the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. Recommended for grades 8-12.

​Pumpkinheads (2019) by Rainbow Rowell: Set in a whimsical pumpkin patch on Halloween night, this graphic novel focuses on Deja, a black, queer, fat protagonist and her friend (and romantic interest) Josiah. The story explores themes of friendship and the courage to pursue romance. Recommended for grades 8-12.

​No Filter and Other Lies (2022) by Crystal Maldonado: The creation of Kat’s online persona “Max” starts out harmless enough, but as Max’s popularity increases things get more complicated and she has to figure out how to come clean without ruining her relationships in the process. Recommended for grades 9-12. 

​The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (2003) by Carolyn Mackler: An oldie-but-goodie, Virginia’s raw commentary, shared through journal entries, emails, provides a real look at life for this plus-sized teen and her family of seemingly perfect people until her brother falls from grace. A Printz Honor Book. Recommended for grades 9-12.

​The Other F Word: A Celebration of the Fat & Fierce (2019) edited by Angie Manfredi: A compilation of stories, art, fashion, and poetry from noted middle grade and YA authors sharing messages about beauty, confidence, and worth. Recommended for grades 7-12. 

​There’s Something about Sweetie (2019) by Sandhya Menon: When Ashish goes under contract with his parents to date an Indian American girl, it’s impossible for him to anticipate what he will find in Sweetie and where the Sassy Sweetie Project will take the two of them. An NPR Favorite Books of 2019, recommended for grades 9-12. 

References

Auguste, M. (2013). Those kinds of books: Religion and spirituality in young adult literature. Young Adult Library Services, 11(4), 37–40.

Barry, A. L. (1998). Hispanic representation in literature for children and young adults. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 41(8), 630–637.

Batchelor, K. E., Ramos, M. M., & Neiswander, S. (2018). Opening doors: Teaching LGBTQ-themed young adult literature for an inclusive curriculum. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 91(1), 1–8.

Campbell, P. J., & Crowe, C. (2015). Spirituality in young adult literature: The last taboo. Rowman & Littlefield.

Charlesworth, T. E. S., & Banaji, M. R. (2019). Patterns of implicit and explicit attitudes: I. Long-term change and stability from 2007 to 2016. Psychological Science, 30(2), 174–192.

Curwood, J. S. (2013). Redefining normal: A critical analysis of (dis)ability in young adult literature. Children’s Literature in Education, 44(1), 15–28.

Dong, Y. R. (2005). Taking a cultural-response approach to teaching multicultural literature. The English Journal, 94(3), 55–60.

Finn, K. E., Seymour, C. M., & Phillips, A. E. (2020). Weight bias and grading among middle and high school teachers. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 635–647.

Ghiso, M. P., Campano, G., & Hall, T. (2012). Braided histories and experiences in literature for children and adolescents. Journal of Children’s Literature, 38(2), 14–22.

Givhan, R. (2022 February 24). Transcript: Race in America: Giving voice with Jason Reynolds [Interview]. The Washington Post.

Harrist, A. W., Swindle, T. M., Hubbs-Tait, L., Topham, G. L., Shriver, L. H., & Page, M. C. (2016). The social and emotional lives of overweight, obese, and severely obese children. Child Development, 87(5), 1564–1580.

Hinton, K., & Berry, T. (2004). Literacy, literature, and diversity. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(4), 284–288.

Kenney, E. L., Redman, M. T., Criss, S., Sonneville, K. R., & Austin, S. B. (2017). Are K–12 school environments harming students with obesity? A qualitative study of classroom teachers. Eating and Weight Disorders, 22(1), 141–152.

Knox, E. J. M. (2019). Silencing stories: Challenges to diverse books. The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion, 3(2), 24–39.

Louie, B. (2005). Development of empathetic responses with multicultural literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(7), 566–578.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2021). Overweight & obesity statistics. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Office of Population Affairs. (n.d.). America’s diverse adolescents. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Parsons, L. T. (2016). Fat female protagonists in YAL and in classrooms: Exploring the impact of anti-fat bias on identity. In J. A. Hayn, J. S. Kaplan, & K. R. Clemmons (Eds.), Teaching young adult literature today (2nd ed., pp. 191–207). Rowman & Littlefield.

Pew Research Center. (2020, September 10). Religious affiliation among American adolescents. Pew Research Center.

Puhl, R. M., & Latner, J. D. (2007). Stigma, obesity, and the health of the nation’s children. Psychological Bulletin, 133(4), 557–580.

Sharma, S. A., & Christ, T. (2017). Five steps toward successful culturally relevant text selection and integration. The Reading Teacher, 71(3), 295–307.

Stallworth, B. J., Gibbons, L., & Fauber, L. (2006). It’s not on the list: An exploration of teachers’ perspectives on using multicultural literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(6), 478–489. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40017605

Silva, A. F., & Savitz, R. S. (2019). Defying Expectations: Representations of Youths in Young Adult Literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 63(3), 323–331.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/48556216

Thomas, E. E. (2016). Stories “still” matter: Rethinking the role of diverse children’s literature today. Language Arts, 94(2), 112–119. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44809887
​
Yu, B. (2021). Kindergarten obesity and academic achievement: The mediating role of weight bias. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 640474.