Bikini Season
If there’s one thing most women can relate to no matter their age, it’s the fight against fat. Erin Merritt feels she’s losing that battle—she’s getting married in six months, and she can’t fit into her wedding dress. She decides the first step to losing weight is quitting her cooking club. When she announces this, it turns out the three other women in the group were planning to quit. Rather than disband, they create the Teeny Bikini Diet Club, determined to shed the pounds by swimsuit season. The four women, all different ages, create a lively and encouraging support system for each other in their diets and in their everyday lives. Each woman diets for a separate reason, whether it’s the wedding dress or on doctor’s orders, but their steps forward (and occasional step back), combined with the fact that none of their sizes, before or after, are mentioned, add up to a reassuring, feel-good read. --Hilary Hatton