Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot

I've heard a lot about Meg Cabot. The author of one of the blogs I read daily is her biggest fan. She wrote The Princess Diaries. How could I not have heard about her? Several weeks (ok, months) ago I purchased this book on the buy 3 for the price of 2 table at Borders. This is one of the few books I've bought new in months. It sat there forever, mocking me for paying money and then not reading it.

Last weekend I woke up before either boy. Mike was sleeping on the couch, Tristan was in his crib. I didn't want to wake either of them by wandering the house and the book I was supposed to be reading was in the living room, so I picked this one to fill in. Turns out, it was an excellent book. Very fast paced, very funny, easy to read.

Size 12 is Not Fat is the story of Heather Wells. Heather is a washed up former teen pop star (think Debbie Gibson). She's recently broken up with her fiance (think Justin Timberlake) and is broke. Her mom and manager ran away with her fortune and her dad is in prison. Heather takes a job as assistant director of a dorm, I mean, residence hall, at New York College. When the second freshman girl dies she becomes convinced that it is not accidental and the story takes off from there.

This was very like Nancy Drew for grownups. It's not a dead serious mystery, I'm sure any true mystery fan will know who-dun-it for the first time it's hinted at. Heather is a very likeable character. She's not perfect. She's a size 12. She makes mistakes. The story is told in her voice, and we hear her thoughts all the way through, including when her thoughts stray. I found it to be very easy to read, and will definately read more of Cabot's books. For a quick sample of her writing, her website and blog are here.