Notes From The Underbelly

March 1, 2005
Lara Stone is a college counselor at a ritzy L.A. prep school, and her experience with kids hasn't engendered much desire to have her own. But when her friend Julie announces she is expecting, Lara's husband says he is ready to hear the pitter-patter of little feet. Shortly thereafter, Lara finds herself reluctantly pregnant and entirely unprepared for the changes her body is going through. She ponders the horror of getting even "fatter" than the time in law school when she "ballooned" up to a size eight. Then she figures out that pregnancy means shopping and engages in some serious retail therapy. Meanwhile, a deal Laura made with her boss is hanging overhead: help get the daughter of a famed Hollywood director into NYU, and she'll be allowed to work part-time during her baby's first year. The relationship that Lara develops with the director's daughter is nuanced and actually quite touching, and much of the comedy hits the mark, but many pregnant women will find themselves unable to stomach the omigod-I'm-so-fat prattle spewing from Lara and her image-conscious L.A. friends.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)