Ada's rules: a sexy skinny novel

Ada Howard is on the brink of 50, wondering about the fidelity of her preacher husband and pondering an invitation to a school reunion. And she weighs 220 pounds. She has one year to lose weight, but it's more than that. What should Ada do about her aging mother, who is losing her memories, except of three older daughters who died young of complications from diabetes? What should Ada do about her twin daughters, bright young women, a bit too plump, out in the world pondering the low prospects of marriage for black women? Ada appreciates the aesthetics of black beauty that allow for some heaviness, but now she needs to look hard at what those pounds might be covering up. She embarks on a yearlong search for all the ways she can get herself trim and healthy, substituting food with poetry and music as sources of pleasure and nourishment. At times, Randall's novel reads like a black woman's makeover book, but her keen observations of black culture and the human condition impart a true celebration of aging, health, and beauty in the context of one woman's life. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Author of the New York Times best-selling The Wind Done Gone (2001), a controversial satire of Gone with the Wind, Randall is sure to draw plenty of attention for her latest offbeat novel.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist

It is impossible not to fall in love with the plucky plus-size heroine of bestselling author Randall's fourth outing (after Rebel Yell). When Ada Howard-wife of Lucius "Preach" Howard, the pastor of Nashville's Full Love Gospel Tabernacle (whom Ada suspects of getting love not just from the Lord, but from another woman)-receives an invitation to her 25th college reunion, she takes the opportunity to reclaim the thin body she once had, in hopes of impressing her college sweetheart. Ada draws up a list of 53 sensible diet rules, and vows to follow every last one. Rule #1: "Don't Keep Doing What You've Always Been Doing." Randall uses each maxim as a chapter heading, leading readers deeper into Ada's struggle and self-discovery while she drops the pounds. As Ada learns that any meaningful change must be made for one's own self, she inspires and energizes those around her. A heartwarming and engaging read, Ada's story is more than that-readers following Randall's rules will drop the pounds along with Ada, and perhaps discover something about themselves. Agent: Amy Williams, McCormick & Williams. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

This isn't a diet book, and it's not a self-help title either. However, this new novel by the author of the New York Times best-selling The Wind Done Gone could be either (or both), as it follows the attractive yet overweight Ada Howard through her weight-loss journey. Suspicious of her preacher husband's busy schedule and fed up with his financial commitment to Full of Love Gospel Tabernacle, Ada decides to lose weight after receiving an invitation to her college reunion from her first love. She wants desperately to rekindle that connection, so she creates a list of rules to follow as she sheds pounds. Randall's honesty on life and change is refreshing, especially as she introduces characters who test and embolden Ada. A seemingly minor character offers the greatest moment of this novel; his story, woven almost imperceptibly into the narrative, shows the strength of Randall's storytelling. VERDICT Randall takes an ordinary weight-loss story and creates timeless personalities, demonstrating the challenges that we all face when reaching for a goal. The result will appeal to readers of diet, self-help, and chick-lit books.-Ashanti White, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A feisty middle-aged black woman sheds 70 pounds and rekindles the flame with her preacher husband. Approaching her 25th college reunion, 220-pound Ada Howard decides to get out of her 3X sweats and work towards that stretchy size-10 black dress at Target. It's not just that she wants to look good at the reunion for foxy old flame Matt Manson, who appends a handwritten message ("Honey Babe. It's been too long.") to the invitation. And it's not just that her preacher husband, Lucius, might very well be cheating on her. (He's lost weight, bought a new car and is never home.) Getting slim and healthy is a political issue for Ada. Her three older sisters died of diabetes before they turned 60, and every day at KidPlay, the day care center she runs in Nashville, she sees a parade of oversized African-American women feeding their children the same fattening junk food they eat themselves. So Ada embarks on a program of exercise and diet based on the list of 53 rules that opens this self-help manual delivered in a fictional format. For the most part, the rules are nothing you couldn't find in an actual diet book--though probably not "Get better hair down there," which forecasts the earthy humor with which Randall (Rebel Yell, 2009, etc.) in subsequent pages chronicles Ada's journey toward size 10 and a revitalized marriage. When Ada visits the four congregants she suspects of being her husband's bit on the side, instead of confessions, she hears a litany of the sexual tributes to his wife that Preach recited when invited to adultery. His highly improbable confidences are typical of the novel's relentlessly positive tone; Randall's emphasis on black pride and self-respect, while understandable, makes for predictable fiction. A quick aside about a betrayal by Ada's best friend Delila strikes the only note of adult complexity in a book dedicated to simple cheerleading. Well-intentioned and readable, but very broadly drawn and often gratingly rah-rah.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Ada Howard is on the brink of 50, wondering about the fidelity of her preacher husband and pondering an invitation to a school reunion. And she weighs 220 pounds. She has one year to lose weight, but it's more than that. What should Ada do about her aging mother, who is losing her memories, except of three older daughters who died young of complications from diabetes? What should Ada do about her twin daughters, bright young women, a bit too plump, out in the world pondering the low prospects of marriage for black women? Ada appreciates the aesthetics of black beauty that allow for some heaviness, but now she needs to look hard at what those pounds might be covering up. She embarks on a yearlong search for all the ways she can get herself trim and healthy, substituting food with poetry and music as sources of pleasure and nourishment. At times, Randall's novel reads like a black woman's makeover book, but her keen observations of black culture and the human condition impart a true celebration of aging, health, and beauty in the context of one woman's life. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Author of the New York Times best-selling The Wind Done Gone (2001), a controversial satire of Gone with the Wind, Randall is sure to draw plenty of attention for her latest offbeat novel. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

This isn't a diet book, and it's not a self-help title either. However, this new novel by the author of the New York Times best-selling The Wind Done Gone could be either (or both), as it follows the attractive yet overweight Ada Howard through her weight-loss journey. Suspicious of her preacher husband's busy schedule and fed up with his financial commitment to Full of Love Gospel Tabernacle, Ada decides to lose weight after receiving an invitation to her college reunion from her first love. She wants desperately to rekindle that connection, so she creates a list of rules to follow as she sheds pounds. Randall's honesty on life and change is refreshing, especially as she introduces characters who test and embolden Ada. A seemingly minor character offers the greatest moment of this novel; his story, woven almost imperceptibly into the narrative, shows the strength of Randall's storytelling. VERDICT Randall takes an ordinary weight-loss story and creates timeless personalities, demonstrating the challenges that we all face when reaching for a goal. The result will appeal to readers of diet, self-help, and chick-lit books.—Ashanti White, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro

It is impossible not to fall in love with the plucky plus-size heroine of bestselling author Randall's fourth outing (after Rebel Yell). When Ada Howard—wife of Lucius "Preach" Howard, the pastor of Nashville's Full Love Gospel Tabernacle (whom Ada suspects of getting love not just from the Lord, but from another woman)—receives an invitation to her 25th college reunion, she takes the opportunity to reclaim the thin body she once had, in hopes of impressing her college sweetheart. Ada draws up a list of 53 sensible diet rules, and vows to follow every last one. Rule #1: "Don't Keep Doing What You've Always Been Doing." Randall uses each maxim as a chapter heading, leading readers deeper into Ada's struggle and self-discovery while she drops the pounds. As Ada learns that any meaningful change must be made for one's own self, she inspires and energizes those around her. A heartwarming and engaging read, Ada's story is more than that—readers following Randall's rules will drop the pounds along with Ada, and perhaps discover something about themselves. Agent: Amy Williams, McCormick & Williams. (May)