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Fat Kids Events

  

  * All times are Eastern Standard, check your area. Also check the Web for recordings and repeats

 

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I'm so impressed with [Rebecca's] talent as a writer, to connect with the reader without pandering to us. And the respect for the participants is so welcomed. Bravo! - Michelle W.

 

And the tears came rolling down. It's amazing. You MUST read this book! - MizL.

 

Great book. I have appreciated the thoughtfulness of these narratives. - Susan L.

 

A heart-braking, informative and highly important book for our times. Laced with personal histories as well as scientific information this book brings to the fore the "real and honest" truth about the war on fat and what it is doing to our children, families and our society. It is eminently readable, written in a wry and witty style. I highly recommend this book for all readers regardless of age, background and family histories. - Ellen Levine

 

I think this book is so important. For the former "fat kid" it provides shared experiences to provide support and more in depth stories to enlighten. For those who have not experienced being a fat child, hopefully it will shed some light on the experience. It also includes interviews with doctors and scientists who research obesity, as well as an interview with Daniel Pinkwater (who really should be declared a national treasure). I wish everyone who works with children or has children (or was once a child!) would read this. - AC

 

Funny how the shame still lingers. I too grew up as a "Fat Kid. "Most of the the pain I dealt with was inflicted by other kids, who felt it perfectly acceptable to bully me. But my parents, too, always led me to believe I could somehow be better. Just a few push-ups. Just a few sit-ups. Just a lot of things would cure me of this ill of being fat. I got a lot of love from my parents, first and foremost, but as the author clearly illustrates, a lot of the stigma seemed innocuous and was spoken in a quiet voice. A+++. Very thoughtful and thought-provoking. - RD

 

Fat Kids is a breath of fresh air! It really explores the stories of real life cases, which are hard hitting at times and touches on the real emotion behind childhood obesity. This is certainly a difficult subject to understand and it is very easy to judge and generalize, but with this fine piece of literature, we gain a much more deeper understanding of the broad issues behind childhood obesity. It is evident that the author of Fat Kids spent a long time compiling this and the result is a fantastic book that is a must read in my eyes. The author rightly so moves away from dealing with diet and weight loss, where childhood obesity is concerned and delivers something much more informative and engaging. - Mel Brown

 

Opened the book not knowing what to expect. I couldn't put it down. The heart breaking stories brought tears to my eyes. Being fat is not an easy life to live in this society. Reading the book helped me see that I Thank you Rebecca for writing a very insightful book. - Marla Richter

 

This book by Rebecca Jane Weinstein contains some of the most heartrending stories of truth that I've ever read on the page. If you've ever had a period in your life where you've gained a few pounds and felt differently about yourself or felt that people perceived you differently and regarded you as a fat person, you can in some way, relate to the people profiled in this book. I say in some way, because the author profiles people who have been heavy all of their lives. Most of them have their first childhood memories as those of feeling fat and unfortunately those first painful criticisms usually come from the child's family. I was glued to this book. The author's writing is compelling, thoughtful, self-reflective and honest. I don't normally recommend books to everyone but who doesn't know someone suffering from obesity? - Pricilla Benton

Press

I have watched my mother struggle with her weight my entire life – and I know she struggled before I was born. To me, my mother has always been beautiful, the epitome of what femininity should and could be. To my mother, she was always fat and ugly. The disconnect between our two views affected much of our relationship while I was growing, and even now, with two children of my own. This story will strike others as familiar, I know it has been repeated countless times across this hefty nation. I am not alone, something that became even more apparent as I read “Fat Kids: Truth and Consequences” by Rebecca Jane Weinstein.

 

This volume is amazing in the depth of material it tackles and the emotion that can be felt throughout the pages. Fat is a touchy subject, a torch to be carried or a lash to be wielded – there are few people, especially in America, that are ambivalent to ‘Fat.’ We have been taught to crave it and fear it, eat it and diet it away, love and loath it – and this discord has been decades in the making. The first part of this book relays individual tales of some collected souls, a relative of Mama Cass, survivors of fat camps and others. One story that struck me hard is Bettina’s – a woman who as a child pelted a fellow student with questions and names, as a bully not quite aware of her power or cruelty. As she grew older, she realized her trespass against the one she dubbed ‘Fleshy.’ Attempts to locate him turned up nothing. Reading this story I had the feeling it was going to culminate in a horrific fate for Fleshy, but it didn’t – it passed like most things in life do, which in some way struck me as even sadder.

 

These stories are followed by other sections that are no less compelling; including the science behind fat, drastic measures, the collateral damage of dieting and so much more. Fluid and thoughtful, this book is exceptionally well written with familiar scenes and themes that will speak to almost everyone. - Heather G.

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