Whole in the Clouds by Kristine Kibbee

I received this book free to review from Netgalley. It is written for children, in grades 3 to 12, but I do not recommend it for children because I think that it projects the wrong message. In this book, Cora is an overweight 12 year old who has been bullied about her weight all of her life. Her mother tries to get her to eat healthy but her father sneaks junk food to her. On her way to school one day she detours through the woods and meets an odd little man who tells her that her real parents (she is adopted) live in a city in the clouds and that they only sent her away for her own safety and that they want her to return. When she finally does go to Clouden, the city in the clouds, she becomes thin and beautiful because in Clouden, you look like your inner self and her inner self is a thin beautiful person. In Clouden, she can eat whatever she wants, which is things like hot fudge sundaes and she never gains weight. There are fantasy creatures and a love interest, but to me, this short book - almost a short story rather than a novel, promotes some very unhealthy concepts. Mothers in the book are all rather evil and junk food is glorified. Fat is ugly and thin is beautiful and it seems that the author has issues with food and with her mother. The book is edited well and the writing is not bad, but the entire concept behind it is just very unhealthy and I do not recommend it.