SOLVED. YA novel, read in the 70s, about losing weight, title was one word: the girl's first name. [s]

[Jill]

I read this book in the 1970's. It definitely had a one-word title, the girl's first name, which I had thought was Zoe, or something similar. The storyline was about 2 friends, both overweight. People would confuse them because they looked similar. The main character's father got remarried, and the new stepmother helped her to develop better attitudes and lifestyle choices, which helped her immensely. Her friend became upset because of the positive changes and it strained their relationship to the breaking point. I remember the main character ended up getting a new hairstyle too, and it made her look even more different than her friend. The author was well-known to me. I thought it was Beverly Cleary, but apparently not. The hardback library version had almost no artwork, just a line drawing of the girl's facial features--eyes, nose, mouth. No head or body. I think about it sometimes, and would like to read it again.

[Jill]

Just to narrow it down, I would have read this between 1975-1977. Also, I remember thinking at the time that this subject and age group was somewhat out of the norm for this author.

[bookel]

Blubber/Blume or Fat Glenda/Perl?
Search worldcat.org advanced search
Juvenile fiction book English
Overweight or fat in keywords
Year range 1960/1970-1975.

[Jill]

Thank you for telling me about worldcat.org! I used the advanced search as suggested and found something that has a similar storyline: No Slipper for Cinderella, by Mildred Lawrence. Not a one-word title, but after all these years maybe I remembered wrong. The description includes a helpful stepmother (and stepbrother) and a weight problem, but no mention of the friend who feels threatened by the changes. So maybe, maybe not. I placed a hold on it by Interlibrary Loan through my public library. When it arrives, I will check it out and see if it is in fact the same story. Will update here when I get it. Thanks again!

[Capn]

Dinah and the Green Fat Kingdom and Blimp are from this listopia list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

(No Slipper for Cinderella is also there). :)

[bookel]

A few more details of the slipper book. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
Openlibrary.org is also a useful site.

[bookel]

Girl in the mirror
Author: Zoa Sherburne
Publisher: New York : W. Morrow, 1966.
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : Juvenile audience : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summary:
Overweight Ruth Ann, at sixteen, had been her father's close companion for the four years since her mother's death. If he remarried, their whole mode of life would be changed. In time, she began to view her father's proposed second marriage with some measure of detachment, and this is the story of how she brought herself to face reality.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

[bookel]

Fat girl by Marilyn Sachs https://www.librarything.com/work/217...

[Jill]

Thanks for the list! I ruled out the two titles you mentioned from there, because "Dinah's..." heroine is too young (just beginning adolescence, still playing make-believe), and the "Blimp" was published too late. The book I am thinking of had a heroine who is definitely well into in her teens, probably high school, and is not written in a humorous way, but it takes itself more seriously.

There was one title in the list, however, that really caught my eye: "Girl in the Mirror," by Zoa Sherburne. The artwork reminds me of the book I remember (but not exactly); also, the author's first name is Zoa, which is a lot like Zoe (which I had thought was the book title)! The details on this book are too scant to tell for sure. I requested an Interlibrary Loan for it, and will update here when I receive it.

Capn wrote: "Dinah and the Green Fat Kingdom and Blimp are from this listopia list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

(No Slipp..."

[Jill]

Great, thanks! I just ordered an copy through Interlibrary Loan. The author's first name is Zoa (like Zoe), and the artwork is similar. Also, I had read, and liked, another book by this author, "Why Have the Birds Stopped Singing?" my first time travel book! So she would have been very familiar to me. We shall see, and I will update here when I read it. Thanks again.

bookel wrote: "Girl in the mirror
Author: Zoa Sherburne
Publisher: New York : W. Morrow, 1966.
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : Juvenile audience : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summary:
Overweight..."

[Jill]

Thanks for the suggestions! I looked up both of them and had to rule them out. "Blubber" heroine starts out being a bully, which this girl definitely did not. "Fat Glenda" does has friendship issues but they are based more on the conventionality vs the unconventionality of their two families, rather than the shared weight issues and how they are dealing with it.

bookel wrote: "Blubber/Blume or Fat Glenda/Perl?
Search worldcat.org advanced search
Juvenile fiction book English
Overweight or fat in keywords
Year range 1960/1970-1975."

[Capn]

Fingers crossed for you! :) Let us know how it goes!

[bookel]

I thought you may have half recalled the author hence Zoa ...
The hardcover image is shown here: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1966
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Book...

[Rainbowheart]

Just in case it's not Girl in the Mirror, you might also want to check the Plus-Size YA Heroines list.

[Jill]

The Interlibrary loans came in, and the winner is...Girl in the Mirror by Zoa Sherburne. This is definitely the book I remembered reading in middle school. So I guess this discussion should get moved to the "Solved" thread. Thank you all for your generous help in finding the book. Off to read some more of it...!