Let's Be Honest!

I read the book “To Be Honest” from the author Maggie Ann Martin when I was fifteen. I started reading it in my Spanish class because one of the things we had to do was read a different book every month. When we finished a book, we exchange it with another classmate. That is how I found this book. The story is about Savannah a teen with a life full of ups and downs. To Be Honest exposes many serious issues, like anxiety, eating disorders, fat shaming and tense parental relationships. After her older sister Ashley heads off to her freshman year of college, there is nothing that Savannah dreads more than returning home without her. Savvy and her mom never got along after her mom went on a televised weight loss competition, but without Ashley to break up the fights, her mom’s obsession with weight and controlling Savvy’s health only grows more. As Savvy struggles with her worsening relationship with her mom, figuring out senior year and missing her sister, she already has enough to stress. Then she meets George. When the two grow closer, Savvy’s senior year takes a turn as she learns she needs to live in the moment and sometimes that means saying the truth. I would recommend this book because as I mentioned previously, this book deals with issues like fat shaming, making it a challenging read at some points. Savvy, the protagonist, is fat and deals with these issues head on. I loved the fat representation that was featured in this book and that truly made the book standout among others. I loved seeing a main character that was fat but did not let that become a major insecurity. Savvy embraced her weight and championed body positivism, something I wish more books attempted to do. One of my biggest takeaways from the book was that we needed more characters like Savvy.