Fat Boy vs. The Cheerleaders

Butter Ball. EightButt Johnson. Gabe Johnson, a big marshmallow of a boy, is the punch-line of every fat joke at school. Gabe has taken a lot. He’s taken his mom leaving for some Japanese businessman. He’s taken name-calling from the popular kids and some teachers about his weight. He’s taken the fact that even his friends call him “Chunk.” Band is the only thing he has to look forward to.

When the school’s soda machine’s funds, previously collected by the band, mysteriously begin funneling to the already over-privileged cheerleading dance team, it’s the last straw. But the band teacher has given up, and the school is more interested in sports than in music. And Gabe isn’t going to take it anymore.

Suddenly the band geeks—and every underdog at school—have a champion: none other than the funny fat kid Gabe. No one will be safe from the Geekers odd brand of wrath: not the principal, the band teacher, the local newspaper, and certainly not the cheerleaders and their jock boyfriends.

FAT BOY VS. THE CHEERLEADERS is the story of Gabe’s fight against injustice, but also his fight to reclaim himself. For years he has played along while the popular kids bullied him, but no more.

“I’m fully capable of taking my own dignity. But no one else is going to take it.”

With the help of old friends and unexpected allies in a fight for his voice to be heard (that just doesn’t go the way Gabe had planned), he learns about power, politics and himself. A funny, touching and insightful story, FAT BOY VS. THE CHEERLEADERS will appeal to band nerds, freaks, geeks, and any kids who feel like they just don’t fit in.

“Told in the first-person voice that Geoff Herbach does so well, Gabe Johnson’s account of his development of the “leadership bone” is grand, touching and hilarious.” —Star Tribune

“The funny, profane text embraces the idea that nobody is perfect…Gabe’s character growth will satisfy any appetite...a funny popcorn read.” —Kirkus Reviews

No Marketing Info Available