Walk Like a Hominid

Fat Cat

By Robin Brande

Remember how I raved about Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature recently? Well, almost as soon as I finished reading it, I found Brande’s second novel, Fat Cat, and the jacket description was enough to make me snatch it up immediately.

Summary

High school junior Cat is a self-proclaimed science geek. She has been for years, and she loves it. Not only does she love science, she loves competition, and she has enrolled in Mr. Fizer’s Special Topics in Research Science class, which is entirely dedicated to building a science project to enter into the big science fair at the end of the year. The only catch is that the project must be based on a photo Mr. Fizer gives them, and when Cat gets a look at her photo of prehistoric humans, she just about has a panic attack. This is not at all in the realm of fig wasps - the insect she spent the summer studying at her internship.

But as Cat ponders the image, she focuses on the woman. Muscular, lean, healthy, and standing near her dinner of freshly killed deer (which she probably had to work for). Then Cat thinks of herself. Overweight, prone to headaches and grumpiness, and reliant on the diet sodas and candy bars available in the snack machines. And she begins to wonder if maybe she could look like the prehistoric woman if she acted more like her. Eating natural foods, walking instead of driving, and eliminating various modern conveniences. Thus begins Cat’s great scientific experiment – on herself.

The complete alteration of her lifestyle also allows Cat the chance to review other aspects of her life. She begins to look at issues unrelated to her diet – like the long-standing grudge she holds against her former best friend Matt McKinney. And the fact that she hasn’t ever dated. As her body and mindset begin to change, Cat starts to step out of her comfort zone and explore what she needs and wants in order to be happy healthy inside and out.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

Rating: Up ‘Till Dawn

Another winner from Robin Brande! This book was fantastic! I loved Cat’s science experiment so much. The topic of healthy eating and eliminating processed foods is extremely important and interesting to me, so I was probably a bit of an easy draw for this one. However, Cat was a great character and I think she would appeal to many readers. Adapting to her Hominin lifestyle was not easy, and she makes no pretensions about how bad her cravings are when she starts the project. Even when she’s deep into it and loving the new foods she’s making for herself and her family, she admits to times of stress and temptation. Luckily, she has an awesomely supportive best friend, and a knack for cooking, so she manages to muddle through the caffeine withdrawals and sugar slumps.

As with Evolution … Brande hooks her readers by revealing early in the story that Matt McKinney (the former best friend) did something horrible enough to ruin the friendship between himself and Cat, BUT the details come out at a slow trickle throughout the book. Tricky! But not in an annoying way, the development of the characters and their history was very interesting and I was happy with Brande’s pacing and development of the characters and story.

Enthusiastically recommended for ages 14 and up!