Publisher's Synopsis
Living in the romantic city of Verona, Italy, would be a dream for any girl but not for sixteen-year-old mixed race Susanna Danso. She hates her life because she can't fit in. At school the bullies call her "Mandolino", with such a nickanme Susanna pictures a huge butt. Her aunt, a model's agent, criticizes her appearance. Susanna learns to live with the bullying and criticizing but deep inside she hurts.Everything changes when Brad Lawson, a popular hockey player in school, pursues her. Susanna feels accepted. But Brad has a secret. After he dumps her, she learns the truth. Her world flips upside down, she questions her identity - always too dark or too light with a too-big butt. With a broken heart, Susanna convinces herself that winning back Brad is the only key to her happiness. But he prefers skinny girls that look like models.Susanna is determined to become skinny, to lose her mandolin butt. She starts to eat healthily, soon her eating habits turn into an obsession to eat less. Everyone around notices her weight loss but Sussanna doesn't accept her image in the mirror. She never thin enough. When things start to slip out of hand Susanna has to battle between the need to be healthy and the desire to be thinno matter the cost to fit in. She begins a long journey towards self-acceptance.Will Susanna survive the battle? Will she find the answers to her identity quest? Wasting Away is a gripping story that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt not good enough.
