Not a Fat Annie

By Anne Poirier

If you or your child is a fan of Starfish by Lisa Fipps, Blubber by Judy Blume or Taking up Space by Alyson Gerber, you'll love Not A Fat Annie.

 

"A must read for both tweens, parents and anyone who has a tween in their life."<

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anne Poirier
• Release date: Oct 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088224359

Book preview

NOT_A_FAT_ANNIE_COVER.jpg

NOT a FAT

Annie

ANNE POIRIER

Copyright © 2023 by Anne Poirier

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

First paperback edition October 11, 2023

Book cover design and interior formatting by 100 Covers

ISBN 979-8-89145-638-9 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-0882-2435-9 (ebook)

For my wonderful daughters Alyssa and Ashley,

who I love beyond words, and who inspire me every day to be a better person.

Contents

Chapter 1: Yuck

Chapter 2: Fat

Chapter 3: The Note

Chapter 4: Diet

Chapter 5: Fat Annie

Chapter 6: Maybe?

Chapter 7: The Tryout

Chapter 8: Everyone’s Doing It.

Chapter 9: The Broom Song

Chapter 10: Cow

Chapter 11: Jo

Chapter 12: Sisters

Chapter 13: Yay for Us

Chapter 14: The Sun Will Come Out

Chapter 15: Take Two

Chapter 16: Sisters Unite

Chapter 17: The List

Chapter 18: Dogs

Chapter 19: Differences

Chapter 20: Becca’s Plans

Chapter 21: Drawing MAD

Chapter 22: UGGG

Chapter 23: Not a Fat Annie

Chapter 24: Rehearsal

Chapter 25: Celebrate

Chapter 26: Ready or Not

Chapter 27: The Big Day

From the Author

About the Author: Anne Poirier

Chapter 1: Yuck

From the moment I walked into the classroom, I knew this year was going to suck.

Great! I’m in fifth grade; it is the last year in this school, and I don’t like anyone in this stupid class. I thought for sure that at least Rayanne would be close by... But nooooo, she is nowhere to be found. I am stuck in this class with all the popular girls, the obnoxious jocks, and the smarties.

I knew this would happen; it’s just my luck.

I looked around the class, and cliques were already forming in the corners of the room, and the desks were filling up. I ought to pick out a seat before I am stuck in the front row.

There were three girls in the back left corner claiming their territory, as if the teacher had already assigned those seats to them and they owned the place. They all had long, shiny, perfect hair and perfect outfits, straight from Forever 21. Well, I’m surely not sitting back there!

I looked toward the other back corner of the room, where there were a few empty chairs. I started to walk over when a group of kids ran past me to claim the spot, tossing a soccer ball back and forth—the jocks.

In front of me were Jocelyn and Tami, who I knew were smarties. I felt uncomfortable. This is going to be a long year. I turned around to walk back into the hall to text Rayanne. Maybe I’m in the wrong room? I had to find out where the heck she was.

I grabbed my phone, looked down, and bumped straight into Tim. My cute neighbor. Ohh, H-h-h-hi, Tim, I said with a little stutter and hope. You in this class?

No, just looking for Todd. You seen him?’ Todd is Tim’s twin brother. (And no, he is not as cute as Tim.) Apparently, I was just staring at him. HEY, Earth to Aly...Have you seen him?" Tim asked again, annoyed.

I shook my head, saying, No, sorry, turned quickly, ducked my head, and headed quickly down the hall, texting Rayanne as I walked.

Hey Ray, WHERE RU?

I kept walking down the hallway toward the front door, where the team lists were posted, looking out for Rayanne. Ray is my best friend. She is taller than me and thinner. Her hair is curly like mine but a little shorter and a little redder. She is an amazing violin player. Her mom tells her she is going to be in the Boston Pops someday!

My phone was silent. I got to the front door of the school and went straight to the lists posted on the wall. I scoped for her name. Great! She is on the red team. With Gabby and Heather, too. Of course, that is just like her. She always gets really good classes. We were only in the same class in the third grade. I searched the list for my name again...hoping to see something different. Nope, there I was...yellow team. Yellow is a stupid color. I hate yellow. I trailed my finger down the list to see the name of who else was there and only recognized a few names. Todd was on the list, and so was one of Ray’s friends, Zoey, whom I had hung out with only a few times. How can it be that there are barely any people I know or really like on my team??? This year was supposed to be the best. We have a school trip, have a party at the end of the year, and get to do a play for the whole school around Christmas.

I hiked my backpack up and started walking back to the classroom I had just left. BZZZZ. I grabbed my phone and looked down. It was Ray.

I have the best class! I’m on the Red team! 😊 ♥♥♥ (Just to rub it in) What about you? What team are you on?

I put the phone up to my mouth, pushed the record button, and talked right into it. I’m on the Stupid Yellow team... I hate it. My homeroom stinks. I don’t know anyone really... and that new Becca girl from last year and her two groupies, Courtney and Sam, are there. I bet they bribed the principal to get into the same homeroom. YUCKKKKK. (send)

BZZZZ

Ray: I’m sorry, Al, maybe it won’t be all that bad, gotta run, TTYL.

Me: K

I shoved the phone in my pocket and started to run to my class, thinking, All the good seats must have been taken by now.

I rushed through the classroom door and sat down right near the door, three rows back. There were only three empty seats left, and the others were in the front. I hated the front. You never know what is going on behind you.

Ms. Woodbury, the homeroom teacher, stood up and started yapping all the rules. I grabbed my notebook, opened it up, and started writing.

This. Is. Going. 2B the l. o. n. g. e. s. t. Year-Of-My-Life!

By the end of the day, I was so bored that I had covered the first six pages of my notebook with doodles. At least I had good teachers in English and math—two of my favorite subjects. I have to say, I am excited about math this year because it seems to come easy for me. My dad is good at math, so I think that’s one thing I got from him. Maybe this year won’t be so bad after all.

AND! At least I get to see Rayanne at the beginning of my lunch period every day. We laughed today, as we always do, as we compared our teachers’ outfits of the day. Getting to see her and laughing with her every day will help me make it through my afternoons. I wish I saw her at the end of lunch too, but her afternoon classes are on a whole different wing. Bummer.

🎤

I walked back into the homeroom (because we have a homeroom at the end of the day, too). I sat down and turned to a clean page in my notebook. Right away, I heard the sound of laughter coming from the pop corner AGAIN. It felt like it had been happening all day, but really, it had been mostly in this stupid homeroom and science class. Felt like it happened all day because it was at the beginning, middle, and end of the day.

I slowly turned to see what all the laughter was about, and I saw all the pops staring at me as they laughed. They are laughing at me. I knew it, and I knew what they were laughing about, too.

I stared down at my seat. All I could see was my stomach and the outsides of my legs. I barely fit in this chair; no wonder I had been uncomfortable all day. I casually looked to my left and right sides, trying not to even lift my head, to see if I was the only one that fit on the chair like this. Yep, I was, for sure, the fattest girl in this class. Probably the fattest in the whole fifth grade since Marybeth moved to Canada last year. She used to be the fattest and got called names all the time. That is what Becca and her clan are laughing about.

This has been the longest day ever. I can’t wait to get out of here. Worst team by far. I can’t believe I am going to be stuck here all year. At least Todd is on my team, and I have a couple decent classes...although I wish it was Tim. Todd is nice, too, and I can ask him for