Fugly

Fugly is a portmanteau of fat and ugly, and 19-year-old Beth thinks she’s both. Her only pleasures are food and trolling the seemingly happy, pretty girls who post endless bikini selfies. She’s good at making up new internet personas, and she doesn’t mind when things turn cruel: it means she’s getting attention. But one day at college, she accidentally makes a friend—a bona fide happy, pretty girl, and even if Amy can be silly and puppyish, she’s kind and friendly, and Beth can’t help but enjoy spending time with her. Around the same time, she makes a web friend, Tori, a highly skilled internet troll who doesn’t balk at hacking. Although Beth has qualms, she finds Tori hard to resist. The lessons that Beth learns (pretty girls have feelings, too; the internet may be virtual, but it can cause real pain) feel expected, lessening the story’s emotional resonance. But in her YA debut, Waller, who also writes horror fiction, tells a convincingly realistic story, particularly when describing Beth’s conflicting desires and the ways in which binging can combine satisfaction and fury. Ages 14–up. [em](Nov.) [/em]