Charlie Vega is a lot of things that her mostly white Connecticut suburb frowns on: smart, funny, Puerto Rican, and fat. Undaunted, she follows her writing dreams, resists her mom’s weight-loss schemes and even falls for the cute boy from art class—until she realizes that he may be after her bestie, causing all kinds of messy, everything’s-on-fire, growing-up drama. Like Charlie, Latinx author Crystal Maldonado grew up in a predominately white suburban community as a fat Puerto Rican kid with glasses. Having once felt this added up to the end of the world, Crystal changed her point of view and decided to write a book for anyone who has ever felt similar. While Fat Chance, Charlie Vega is a YA novel, readers of all ages will be able to relate to the themes of diversity, acceptance, body positivity, fashion, and romance.

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