No Big Deal

Meet Emily Daly, a feisty, intelligent and hilarious seventeen-year-old about to start her last year at college. Emily is also fat. She likes herself and her body. When she meets Joe at a house party, he instantly becomes The Crush of Her Life. Everything changes. They share the same passion for music, film, books - everything seems perfect. But as their friendship progresses to something more, Emily can't shake an uneasy feeling. Is Joe all he's cracked up to be?

With her mum trying new fad diets every week, and friends who appear to be having grown-up sexual relationships, Emily faces a constant battle to stay strong and not conform to society's conventional idealized image of a young woman.

In Bethany Rutter's debut YA novel No Big Deal, can Emily remain the strong feminist (with a great sense of style) that she is and retain her identity as a happy fat girl?