“The first thing I ate after my asthma attack was a crumpet.”

From Laura Dockrill’s My Ideal Boyfriend Is a Croissant.

Sixteen-year-old Bluebelle (BB) is a self-proclaimed fat girl who loves food; she doesn’t see her weight or health as an issue, in fact, she sees it as part of her identity.  However, the adults in her life see BB’s weight as an issue, so they have now made it an issue for BB.  After her latest asthma attack, BB is given a food diary to fill out to show a pushy nurse that despite being overweight, she eats healthily.  BB also decides that now is a good a time as any to inform her parents that she not only doesn’t want to go to college, but also wants to drop out of school to pursue an apprenticeship at the coffee shop where she works.  Her on-again, off-again parents are currently temporarily separated, but both are unpleased with BB’s desire to drop out of school.  Even though she is unpleased with the idea, BB’s Mother makes a deal with her that if she uses the food diary for six weeks and joins a gym, she can drop out of school.  Among her crazy life, BB has several strong supporters including her younger sister, Dove (who is skinny and enjoys running parkour around the streets of London), best friend, Camille, and the very attractive coworker, Max.  BB makes her way through life, meal by meal and one opinionated diary entry at a time, but when a near-fatal accident impacts her family, BB will have to shift her priorities and maybe keep her promise of joining a gym… and that’s when the real craziness begins.

Short diary entries (chapters) make this a quick read that is interesting in its connection to food and life events.  Dockrill writes with a honesty that is full of truly hilarious and believable happenings; the mundane easily becomes the entertaining backbone of the book.  The British terms and education/vocation system can be a bit confusing to American readers, but nothing that BB’s detailed descriptions or a quick Google search can’t fix.  My Ideal Boyfriend Is a Croissant is a genuinely unique story filled with an interesting look at body image and health in modern times.