📖 The Melting of Maggie Bean

The book starts off with Maggie choosing on which candy she should spend her allowance on when two popular girls from her school, the synchronizing swim captains, enter the store and she leaves to avoid an awkward situation. At school, she's picked last in gym class and one of the girls who are picking rudely complains how she wouldn't have chosen Maggie if she had known that there was another girl behind her. Maggie can't wait till her best friend, Aimee, is the next captain so Maggie won't be the last person chosen. She has a crush on a boy named Peter, who she talks to only by chance and planned encounters. At home, things don't look much brighter. Maggie's dad recently lost his job and her parents want her to go to Pound Patrollers, a weight-loss support group with her aunt. On the bright side, she has her talent and love for swimming. With the swimming tryouts coming up, Aimee encourages her to try out but Maggie refuses due to her insecurity with her looks. After her experience with the Pound Patrollers, she starts to lose weight and quits her chocolate obsession driven by stress. She adds goals to her goal list, including finding her dad job opportunities and sets an exercise plan to do each day. I highly recommend The Melting of Maggie Bean by Tracia Rayburn because it emphasises the development as Maggie starts to accept herself and find her self-confidence within the chaos. She's able to change and grow, handling emotional, academic and family pressure with a side of heart-warming moments.

这本书一开始讲述了玛吉正在犹豫该用自己的零花钱买哪种糖果时,学校里的两个受欢迎女孩 - 花样游泳队的队长 - 走进了商店。为了避免尴尬,玛吉立刻离开了。到了学校,在体育课分组时,她又一次被最后一个选中。其中一个负责选人的女孩还很刻薄地抱怨,如果她知道玛吉后面还有别人,她绝对不会选玛吉。玛吉迫不及待希望她最好的朋友艾米能成为下一次的队长,这样她就不用再最后被选了。她还暗恋一个叫彼得的男孩,只能靠偶然或者刻意安排的机会和他说话。 回到家里,情况也没有变得更好。玛吉的爸爸最近失业了,而她的父母希望她和姨妈一起参加"Pound Patrollers"减肥互助小组。唯一让她感到开心的是她在游泳方面的天赋和热爱。随着游泳队选拔临近,艾米鼓励她去参加试训,但因为对外表缺乏自信,玛吉拒绝了。后来,在参加减肥小组后,她开始减重,也戒掉了因压力而形成的巧克力依赖。她还写下了一份目标清单,其中包括帮爸爸寻找工作机会,并为自己制定了每天的锻炼计划。 我非常推荐 The Melting of Maggie Bean,因为这本书非常强调玛吉的成长与改变。随着故事发展,她逐渐学会接受自己,并在混乱与压力中找到自信。她努力面对情感、学业以及家庭上的困难,同时故事中也穿插着许多温暖人心的时刻。