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| Size 12 Is Not Fat | 
 enlarge | Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Category: Book
Buy Used: $3.87
Used (6) from $3.87
Avg. Customer Rating:  85 reviews
Sales Rank: 3445895
Format: Import
Media: Paperback
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0330440403
EAN: 9780330440400
ASIN: 0330440403
Publication Date: January 31, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 80 more reviews...
 Ok chick lit January 6, 2009
The first three chapters were good. The "chipmonk" at the start was great.
The next few chapters got a bit blah, and really slowed down. But once it hit about chapter 15 it perked up again and started to get really interesting.
I kept thinking I knew who it was, but was at no stage anywhere close. Oh and I think I love Cooper.
Move over Nancy Drew, Heather Wells is on the case November 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Book by LK Gardner-Griffie Paperback: Misfit McCabe Kindle version: Misfit McCabe
I have been trying to get an opportunity to read some of Meg Cabot's work. She is a prolific writer and I have always heard good things about her books, but haven't been able to find the time to read any of them, while trying to get Misfit McCabe launched, write the sequel, read material and write reviews for the Lulu Book Review, and oh, there's that little thing called the full time day job (which usually ends up being full time and a half). With a title like Size 12 Is Not Fat, I decided that I had to start there because the title just grabbed me. For someone who struggles daily battling the weight issue, I was looking forward to reading a book with a heroine who was not built along the lines of a toothpick. Not that toothpicks are bad, but they are much more prevalent between the covers of our favorite books than they are walking the streets. Also, I figured that with only 3 books in the series so far, I could catch up much more quickly than with The Princess Diaries series, which is getting ready to launch book number 10. Plus, I like mysteries and the bulk of my "for pleasure" reading is light weight mysteries.
On page one, Ms. Cabot had me. The story opens with Heather Wells in a dressing room struggling into a new pair of jeans she wants to purchase. In another dressing room, a girl with a voice like a chipmunk inquires as to whether there is a size smaller than zero. Heather immediately dubs chipmunk voice "Less than Zero" and continues to refer to her by that name. I could feel the giggle starting from my toes on that one. To come up with a character named Less Than Zero and take a dig at vanity sizing at the same time was brilliant. For that reason alone, I was ready to dive into the life of Heather Wells and see where I ended up.
The character of Heather Wells is modeled after Britney Spears in a what if fashion. What if a pop sensation lost her recording contract, her boyfriend, gained a dress size or two, and her mother ran off with her manager to another country stealing all of her money, while her father was in jail? Oh, and because she was performing for much of her teenage years, she didn't have any formal education to fall back on when everything blew up. Heather somehow wangles a job working in a primarily freshman residence hall for New York College, and lives a couple blocks away with her ex-boyfriend's brother, Cooper Cartwright. She helps organize and keep track of Cooper's expenses and does his billing, for which he lets her live in his 3 story pink stucco brownstone in the Village. The back drop of the residence hall is filled with realistic detail which comes from Ms. Cabot having worked in a New York freshman residence hall after graduating with an art degree, and finding no jobs that would pay the bills. Like Heather Wells, one of the main draws to the job was the offer of free tuition, so she could get a degree in something that would enable her to earn a living.
The character Heather Wells is portrayed as a 28 year old of arrested development and self-esteem issues due to the circumstances surrounding her formative years. Her maturity level is much younger than her years, and is closer to the level of the freshman residents of Fischer Hall. As we have seen through the eyes of the media and all of the attention on Britney Spears, that Britney certainly does not operate at the maturity level her years would lead you to expect. Neither does Heather Wells. She has a major, adolescent crush on her landlord, boss, and ex-boyfriend's brother, Cooper and fantasizes about him throughout the book, but is unable to communicate her feelings for him in adult manner. She also doesn't seem to know how to handle the attentions of Jordan Cartwright, the ex-boyfriend, who keeps coming around trying to reconcile with her, which confuses Heather because he just announced his engagement to someone else.
Against this background, the female students of Fischer Hall seem to be dying off at the rate of one a week, doing something so unfeminine as elevator surfing. Heather is especially suspicious because it would appear that the girls were elevator surfing alone, which never happens, and the girls in question would seem to be the least likely people on the planet to take up elevator surfing. And of paramount importance to Heather, one of the girls liked Ziggy, and no one who liked Ziggy, the uncoolest cartoon character of all, would EVER elevator surf. Of course, when no one else thought that there was anything to investigate, Heather decides to investigate events on her own. Move over Nancy Drew, Heather's on the case now and she doesn't like anyone killing her girls.
Size 12 Is Not Fat is an easy and fun read. Meg Cabot draws colorful characters which surround Heather and provide her with a sense of family, albeit an odd one. Through the dint of not being able to let go of the mystery surrounding the deaths of the freshman women of Fischer Hall, Heather ultimately prevails in solving the mystery, and in the process nearly gets Jordan Cartwright killed as well as herself, but learns something about herself along the way.
 Spot on and really entertaining! November 14, 2008
Speaking as someone who worked as a campus resident assistant when she was in college, I have to say that the main character, Heather's, musings about working in a "residence hall" not a "dorm" took me straight back to that time and place in my life. I remember the canned speeches all too well and I laughed out loud at several places in this novel when I remembered being in similar situations to that of the protagonist.
The contrast between the mystery fueling this book and the way that Heather was almost completely unprepared to deal with any of the trouble she faced made for some hilarious encounters too. And when you combine that with a great cast of ensemble characters rounding out the book, I really don't think you can go wrong.
There was just the right amount of quirky fun and who-dun-it antics in this novel to really make it work. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of Heather Wells and Company in the future.
Huge Meg Cabot fan, but this one disappointed me August 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved the Queen of Babble series as well as the Boy series. So of course, I thought this book would start off another love affair with the Heather Wells series - uh, definitely no love affair here! While I did finish the book, I definitely skimmed through a lot of it. The constant rambling on by Heather drove me insane! I thought I was going to scream every time I read her say "dormitory, uh, I mean residence hall." Okay, it was funny the first five times, it didn't have to be repeated throughout the entire book.
Now with that said, I did enjoy the characters of Cooper and Jordan. I liked reading about the relationships between them and Heather (as long as Heather didn't open her mouth or think). The storyline was good, the mystery was predictable, but fun to read about.
I would not personally purchase this book. But everyone needs to decide for themselves, so borrow it from a friend or the library and make your own determination.
Since I love Meg Cabot so much, I am reading the next book in the series (size 14). I'm hoping it's better.....
A Plus Size Mystery August 23, 2008
Heather Wells, former teen pop star, has to start her life over. At 28 her career is non-existent, her money is gone, her finance is now and ex, her waist line has expanded and she has no skills other than those that made her a teen pop star. Determined to start over Heather takes a job as assistant resident director for New York College's Fischer Hall. Though the pay is lousy Heather finds this to be the ideal position for her. It is walking distance from her rent free (almost) apartment, and once her benefits kick in she can go back to school for free. Now all she needs is for the man of her dreams, Cooper aka the brother of her ex-finance, to notice her, the world to realize that a size 12 is not fat, and to figure out who is killing girls in her residence hall by throwing them down the elevator shaft.
Size 12 Is Not Fat is not your average detective novel and Heather Wells is not your average detective. She is a size 12 and not exactly proud of it but she is not ashamed of it either. She is witty, brave, and determined to make something of a life that most would think is falling apart at the seems. Though the mystery surrounding the deaths in the residence hall drives the books it is Heather's life and the lives that affect hers that keep you reading this book. You want Heather to get the guy and have her cake too literally. And in the meantime you want to know who is killing these girls because as Heather says girls do not elevator surf.
I can't wait to read the rest of this series and see Heather solve another mystery while trying to make her crazy life work. It will definitely be an adventure.
Reviewed by Desiree
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