Marilyn Sachs's books deal realistically with everyday problems and ordinary children and young people. The problems of obese people are also treated with sensitivity and humor in Barbara Wersba's novel, Fat, A Love Story (1987), and its sequel, Love Is the Crooked Thing (1987). Like Ellen in Marilyn Sachs's The Fat Girl, Rita Formica tries to change her image when she falls in love. But in this novel, the story is seen through her eyes, and the solution comes not through her boy friend but because of her own strong personality. Whereas Ellen is seen through the eyes of manipulative Jeff, Fat examines the trials of an obese teenager through the eyes of her spunky, lovable female character.