So, I initially read this because my friend Molly told me I ABSOLUTELY had to. She's usually not wrong about such things.
The premise of Mr. Fizer's Special Topics in Research Science is that on the first day of school, you draw a picture from a stack. You have an hour to design a science fair project related to that picture. Your project remains top secret until the end-of-the-year science fair. Mr. Fizer's students tend to win, and a college recommendation from him can open doors at universities that Cat wouldn't otherwise be able to consider.
And then Cat draws a picture of Homo Erectus. At the end of the hour, she figures out her project. She will live a life as close as possible to that of Homo Erectus. No cars, no technology (with exceptions for homework and emergencies). She's carved out an exemption for shampoo, but not one for make-up. She wants to prove how our diet and lifestyle is hurting the human body, and she's doing it by peeling back the years. In the mean time, she also just might loose the weight that has ruined her life.
I kept expecting this one to get preachy about the benefits of vegetarianism and the evils artificial sweetner. And... it never really did, which I appreciated, because I can get pretty defensive about my frozen pizza.
I also liked how Cat's self-esteem issues didn't magically go away with the weight. There were deeper issues there that needed to be explored and were.
And of course, there was a romance storyline. Even at the beginning of the story, before Cat designs her project, her friends try to set her up with different guys, because she's awesome. As she loses more and more weight, more and more guys notice. But of course, there's just one guy. The guy who broke her heart. The guy she totally hates, and totally misses. A guy who's hot and smart and perfect for Cat, if only he hadn't been such a complete jerkface.
Loved the romance. Loved the book. As I said, Molly's usually right about such things.
Book Provided by... my local library
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3 comments:
I've got this one on audio right now and I love it! I'm planning on booktalking it this year for my Summer Reading talks.
I enjoyed this one, too.
Hmmm....sounds better than I remember thinking when I ordered it for the library. I'm glad to hear it doesn't get preachy, that would put me right off. And also that weight-loss isn't a magic bullet, I hate that. I may have to check this one out.
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