Fatty Patty by Kathleen Irene Paterka

Kathleen Irene Paterka is on tour with Fatty Patty and CLP Blog Tours. This is the first in a series of books that will take place in James Bay, Michigan, and the story follows Patty Perreault, an elementary school teacher who has battled with her weight her whole life. To make matters worse, her twin sister has always been slim, only making Patty’s battle with the bulge that much worse. But Patty is determined to slim down, and hope that her body makeover will give her a better chance at winning the Teacher of the Year award at her school. While attempting to swim laps at a local pool, she meets Sam Curtis, an accountant who also happens to be a few pounds too heavy. While a romance appears to be blooming, Patty holds back because Sam is overweight. She knows she is overweight but is trying to do something about it – work out, eat better (minus those binge-eating moments) but she feels Sam doesn’t care about his image. Will she let her own foolishness stand in the way of love?
Every once in a while I worry about not being able to connect with a book because of not being able to connect with the main character. Fatty Patty was one, because I have been underweight the majority of my life and have never struggled with weight or body image. (Though I did still get called nicknames in school, like Chicken Legs and Twiggy!) But it’s great when you find an author that can pull readers in no matter their situation and have them be able to relate to their characters in some way, and Paterka did that for me. I highly enjoyed Patty’s story and her journey for self-love and happiness, so even though we are so different, it didn’t matter to me as a reader. I found a way to connect with her and stay interested in her journey. There was a lot of drama, especially with the other teachers that I loved reading about, and Patty was an all-around fun character to get to know. The only thing that really stuck out to me was the points where she seemed not-so-nice, mainly when it came to Sam being overweight. I tried to understand her point of view, where she thought he didn’t care about his looks, but sometimes I still thought she was being a tad hypocritical in that sense. But overall, a very fun read, and one I [recommend!
Rating: 4]