And the story (a companion to Albertalli's Simon vs. Molly's not rocking any big-and-beautiful or fat-acceptance labels she's just not constantly trying to diet or obsessed with her weight.
That's not to say that Albertalli made Molly into some romance-novel model of a plus-size perfection. Through Molly's journey of discovering what falling in love feels like, Albertalli has given voice to a character so often ignored and pushed into the jolly sidekick mode: the chubby girl who's sure she'll die a virgin because adolescent guys, even in progressive Montgomery County, Maryland, are more likely to say "no fatties" or "you're pretty for a big girl" than to see how awesome she really is. Sure, Molly's had the epic 26 crushes, but they were all from afar and unrequited (she barely spoke to the objects of her crushes). But she's consumed with a sense that's something's lacking, because she's never actually been in love. In The Upside of Unrequited, Molly has, by all accounts, an amazing life: two loving moms who adore each other and their three children a fierce twin sister a cute baby brother lifelong friends who have her back a cool multicultural neighborhood and a fun summer job. This touching novel about sisterhood, family, body image, and first love is further proof that Becky Albertalli is a powerful voice in contemporary young adult literature. There's plenty to unpack and discuss if parents read this along with their teen, particularly about the individual experience of falling in love and why there's no timeline for when is the right time to discover first love. The high schoolers (and occasionally the teens and their parents) also realistically discuss sexuality and identity, from experience (or lack thereof) to what qualifies as sex and losing virginity to birth control to whether fat or nerdy teens are still desirable ( spoiler alert: The answer is yes!). Teens and adults curse (sometimes rather colorfully) in a believable way (some characters much more than others).
Like Albertalli's previous book, The Upside of Unrequited is extremely diverse, featuring LGBTQ characters and various racial, ethnic, and religious characters. Molly has a "lovely face" but is fat, and while she doesn't have any interest in losing weight, she's worried she'll never find love. The story follows Molly Peskin-Suso and to a lesser extent her twin sister, Cassie, best friends and cousins of Abby Suso, a supporting character in Simon.
Parents need to know that The Upside of Unrequited is award-winning, best-selling author Becky Albertalli's sophomore novel, a contemporary romance that's a companion to Simon vs.
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