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Teenage Waistland    by Lynn Biederman & Lisa Pazer Amazon.com order for
Teenage Waistland
by Lynn Biederman
Order:  USA  Can
Delacorte, 2010 (2010)
Hardcover, e-Book

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* * *   Reviewed by Lyn Seippel

Three morbidly obese sixteen-year-olds wait anxiously to see if they will be admitted to a clinical trial for Lap-Band weight-loss surgery. So far the surgery has only been approved by the FDA for adults. This clinical trial will be a step towards approval for teenagers.

The story is alternately told in first person by each of the teens:

Marcie, 5’4”, weight 288 lbs.
East, 5’6”, weight 278 lbs.
Bobby, 6’2”, weight 335 lbs.


Marcie's friend Jen had the surgery done in Mexico and looks great. Marcie's impatient to have her own surgery. Her mother's not about to take her to Mexico, so she has to get into the New York City trial.

East lives with her mother who is almost morbidly obese. She rarely leaves the house and East takes care of her rather than the other way around. Char, East's best friend and lifeline, is also signed up for the trial.

Bobby, aka Refrigerator, is the star offensive lineman on his high school football team. He knows that if he loses weight, he may lose his position and an athletic scholarship, but he's tired of being teased about his man boobs.

The teens are thrown together in a support group and their lives and problems intertwine as they try to find the root to their eating habits. This book is different from any you've read before about overweight teens.

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