"superb look at a plus size person"

Nearly thirty years old, Kylie Chase feels she has come a long way since high school in Chicago. In her teens, she was reticent and obese. Now she dropped a ton of weight and kept it off, and provides in her seminar helping those like she was "How to Be Cool." However, when Kylie inadvertently overhears some high school peers deride her, she realizes her self esteem remains in negative numbers just like it was over a decade ago.

Reporter Ty Benedict thinks otherwise as he sees her as a great success; he is doing a story on her butterfly metamorphosis. He asks to escort her to her high school reunion, which she agrees because she is attracted to the handsome journalist. However, how will she react when she learns he is not quite the altruistic reporter he pretends to be?

As with the insightful THE NEXT BIG THING, HOW TO BE COOL is a superb look at a plus size person, who in this case is no longer a plus size, but her psyche is imprinted with the belief that she still remains too big in spite of the statistical evidence (waistline and weight, etc) and anecdotal proof (male second looks) to the contrary. The character driven tale focuses on the likable Kyle who though successful still struggles to convince herself that she is cool inside. Her uncool words of wisdom aside, this is delightful tale of the importance of believing in oneself especially when your history is otherwise.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 29, 2007

Summary

The national bestselling author of The Next Big Thing and Your Big Break presents her coolest novel yet.

Kylie Chase always thought once she lost weight, life would be perfect. And for the past couple of years, that's proven to be true. After shedding seventy pounds and reinventing herself as a savvy trendsetter, Kylie's enjoyed amazing success. She's even found a new career, working as a "cool instructor," transforming the socially inept from geek to chic. Her classes on How to Be Cool are Chicago's hottest ticket.

But despite her outward image, Kylie's still uncomfortable in her skin—and she's still a dork at heart, who knows more about board games than Balenciaga (she thought the latter was a tropical disease). Kylie would sooner die than let her clients know about her overweight, nerdy past.

But things start to unravel when Kylie's apartment burns down and she's forced to shack up with her parents. (No matter how you slice it, a twenty-nine-year-old living with Mom and Dad is definitely not cool.) Now her father's setting curfews, and her mom's proving she's way cooler than Kylie's ever been. Making matters worse, there's a journalist shadowing her every move. The last thing Kylie needs is someone snooping around and uncovering her dirty little secret...no matter how sexy he may be.

The stress is driving Kylie nuts—and the weight she fought so hard to lose is starting to creep back on. But with the help of her best friend, Ruby, a confident plus-sized model, Kylie's starting to learn that appearances aren't everything. And that morphing from an "ugly duckling" into the queen of cool isn't all it's cracked up to be...