Fat Girl Summer Reading List
19 books with fat characters to read by the pool this summer
Editors’s note: This post is from 2024, but I’m re-upping it for the summer. Please note the discount code isn’t valid in 2025. Thanks for (re)reading!
Recently, I was listening to the author Emma Copley Eisenberg on Virginia Sole-Smith’s Burnt Toast podcast. Emma told Virginia that she did an analysis of the New York Times notable books over the past five years and found that 1less than one percent of the books—100 each year over the past 5 years—had a fat person in them.
Fat Girl Summer enters the chat.
I took this information (and budding idea) to Parnassus Books and my friends Chelsea and Katie agreed to help me create a reading list, and the store agreed to host the list on their website and offer a 10% off discount.
This reading list is free, but …
I paid Chelsea and Katie to help me create it. If you get something out of this list and have $5 to put towards a monthly subscription, that would help offset the cost. Substack unfortunately doesn’t allow you to pay for a single post. You have to pay for a month, but you can turn off the payment in 30 days. If 14 of you do this, the post pays for itself.
Chelsea and Katie are booksellers at Parnassus, specializing in children’s books, YA and romance, respectively. In order to keep this list at a manageable size, we focused on current books and fiction. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive list of books about fat politics, Aubrey Gordon has a great list on Bookshop.org.
If you want to read some fun books with fat characters while you’re laying by the pool this summer, this is the list for you!
Fat Girl Summer Reading List
A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins
Genre: Sapphic Romance
ALKBF offers us not just one, but TWO fat leads in this sapphic, friends-to-lovers romance between a rising music producer, Cyn Tha Starr and their best friend Jucee, one of Houston's hottest strippers. I am the current President and CEO of the Chencia Higgins Fan Club. Whatever she writes is a gift and should be bought immediately. KATIE
Beautifully Me by Nabela Noor
Genre: Picture Book
Zubi is thrilled to dress for her first day of school until she hears everyone criticizing their bodies, so she turns her own critical eye on herself. This is such an important book especially for parents and caretakers of littles as it calls on us to remember the impact of our words — even when they are directed at ourselves. CHELSEA
Big by Vashti Harrison
Genre: Picture book
This is a powerful read. Sparse, intentional words paired with lush illustrations tell an important story of self-acceptance and remind readers about the power of words. This won a Caldecott Medal, the highest honor for picture books, for good reason. CHELSEA
Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen
Genre: Romance
Allen's spicy adult romance takes on the absolute cesspool that is online dating. Determined to celebrate her 30th birthday with a boyfriend, Aaliyah, with the help of her three friends, navigates everything from blatant lies to weird over-the-top obsession with her body. And although she is looking for romance, she isn't looking for love. But what we want isn't always what we get. KATIE
Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
Genre: YA
Willowdean longs for a label in her town that isn't just 'fat girl,' so she decides to compete in the local beauty pageant that happens to be run by her mother. This truly is the book that started my own body acceptance journey. And the film is as good as the book! CHELSEA
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado
Genre: YA
Charlie struggles to find her exact place in a world that wants her to be thinner, whiter, and quieter. This endearing debut will tug at your heartstrings and make you giggle all on the same page. I thought about Charlie for days after I finished her story. Teenage Chelsea needed this book so badly! CHELSEA
Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith
Genre: Parenting
Don’t be fooled by the parenting label the publisher put on this book. It’s for anyone, maybe especially those of us reparenting ourselves. This is a must-have companion for those divesting from a culture that tells us we have to stay small. If you’re co-parenting with someone who spends their weekends exercising or training for races and then critiques how you and your kid(s) eat, this book will be an enlightening journey for your family. KIM
Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg
Genre: Fiction
Sorry for lying to you. This isn’t a review! (Because I haven’t read it yet.) (It just came out!) But I did buy it and I’m DYING to read it. Here is what Sarah Arnold at Parnassus said in her staff rec: “Housemates is a roadtrip story about queer love, finding your place, and what it means to create art. Eisenberg tackles these big topics through the lens of two generations of queer creatives, and she does it in a distinctly fresh and fascinating way.” KIM/SARAH
How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein
Genre: Romance
If you can't find a good man to love your curves, trust that you can find a hot werewolf (editor’s note: lolz). Cassandra returns home to sort out her grandma's affairs. The last thing she needs is to stumble upon her former best friend Seth, who is responsible for one of her worst memories. Despite her insistence, Seth isn't leaving, and while Cassandra begins to reckon with her witchy heritage, Seth offers her a deal. He'll help her learn all about being a witch if she promises to brew the potions he needs to calm his inner-wolf. No funny business. But of course that pesky mate-bond happens and all bets are off. KATIE
Knockout by Sarah MacLean
Genre: Historical Romance
Fun fact: fat women existed in history! And thanks to Sarah we get to seem them railed by Dukes. Lucky us! Knockout is the third book in the Hell's Belles series and features Imogen, our explosives loving heroine and her sexy, stick-in-the-mud detective, Thomas Peck. When Imogen's family finds out about her late night activities they hire Thomas to "protect her." While neither of them want anything to do with this arrangement, it's only a matter of time before they are swept up in each other's chaos. KATIE
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
Genre: Romance
April lives to write fanfic and cosplay as Lavinia, her favorite character in TV's biggest show. When she posts her latest outfit on the internet, she goes viral and attracts attention of all kinds, including the star of the show, Marcus. Cue one of the most fun romances I've read. I lived on fanfiction as a teen, and reading this scratched that nostalgic itch in my brain. CHELSEA
Starfish by Lisa Fipps
Genre: Middle Grade
With the help of those who love her, Ellie is ready to become her very best self despite all the negative voices in her life. Ellie's list of "Fat Girl Rules" hit me so hard, and I related to her finding freedom in the pool. A novel in verse, this fast read should be required reading for everyone looking to heal their inner kid. CHELSEA
The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez
Genre: Romance
Two broken-hearts decide that the best way to get over their feelings for their first big loves is in a no strings attached romp with each other. It's a tale as old as time, right? But we all know how that works out, and lo and behold Marcela and Theo soon develop pesky feelings. In the least creepy way possible, I think about Marcella's curves on the cover of this book on a regular basis. It's SO good. KATIE
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert
Genre: Romance
Talia Hibbert is the reigning queen of fat FMCs. We owe so much to her Brown Sister Trilogy. The Roommate Risk is a lesser known, but equally scrumptious romance with a roommates-to-lovers trope between party girl Jasmine and her uptight best friend, Rahul. KATIE
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg
Genre: True Crime
Two women were murdered in 1980 on their way to a Rainbow Gathering (which itself is a fascinating topic), and the case ran cold. Eventually someone was convicted, but was the conviction accurate? Eisenberg relies on her own experience living in the county to shine light on small-town Appalachia and the crime whose legacy is still felt today. CHELSEA
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
Genre: Romance
I only know about the magnificence of Jasmine Guillory because of my friend (and fellow former bookseller) Devin. When I was making this list, I knew I needed to include Guillory, so I texted Devin and asked which book to include and she said this one. But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what Roxane Gay said: “What a charming, warm, sexy gem of a novel. I couldn’t put The Wedding Date down. I love a good romance and this delivered from the first page to the last...One of the best books I’ve read in a while.” KIM
Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia by Kate Manne
Genre: Sociology
I think a lot of people just learned about Kate Manne, but she’s been at it for awhile. Don’t snooze on her previous books about misogyny and male privilege. Unshrinking came out in January and is being called the definitive takedown of fatphobia. Depending on your temperament, maybe not a “fun” read, but an important one. KIM
Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Genre: Romance (Big Boy)
Where are all my big boys? I need a big boy! (Cue the SNL bop.) Solomon's Weather Girl is one of the few contemporaries featuring a plus-size hero. Coworkers Ari and Russel partner to help their miserable divorced bosses (and current network executives and mentors) reconnect in an attempt to make everyone's work life a little less toxic. But neither could have predicted that a love story of their own was in the forecast. KATIE
"You Just Need to Lose Weight": And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
Genre: Sociology
I’m a triple Taurus, so I hate to “meet people where they’re at.” I prefer people to meet ME where I’M at. (Stomps hoof in the ground.) Luckily for all of us, Aubrey Gordon does meet people where they’re at, and she does it so artfully in this super short book. If you consider yourself body positive, but you don’t wear plus sizes, and you have fat people in your life that you care about, please read this book. KIM
Let’s shop! Here is the link to peruse and purchase the books from this list.
Use the coupon code FATGIRLSUMMER at checkout to receive 10% off each of these titles. Coupon valid 6/23/24 - 8/23/24.
Thank you to Chelsea, Katie, Andy and Sarah for helping me pull this off.
Emma Copley Eisenberg in New Republic: The American Novel Has a Major Problem With Fat People.
Yes! Love this! I also review books for anti-fat bias and fat positivity over at readingwhilefat.com. I've done 170+ book reviews over the last couple of years and I do at least one review a week. You can look at only fat positive books or I have a tag cloud if you want to sort by genre.
Love this whole list! Thanks for including Fat Talk!