Fat Boys in Gym Class

Abstract

This article examines the role of athleticism in young adult novels featuring fat, male young adult protagonists. I analyze the role of athleticism in eleven national award-winning young adult novels with fat, cisgender, male protagonists, arguing that athleticism rebrands fatness as acceptable, powerful, and even desirable as long as it is associated with sport or violence. It also signals character growth and redemption in the fat male protagonists, as it is often the catalyst for their maturation and the resolution of the plot’s conflicts. The article ultimately shows that the trope of athleticism in young adult literature reflects and upholds social constructs of male fatness.