Donuts, Body Image, and Teenagers: Why I Wrote a Plus-Size Theater Kid into the Spotlight, a guest post by Allen Zadoff

I’ll be honest—when I sat down to write The Donut Prince of New York, I had an agenda. I wanted to create the kind of YA hero I never saw growing up—a plus-size theater kid who could be in the spotlight without having to shrink himself first.

Maybe it’s because I spent my own teenage years as an actor and playwright, dreaming of a life where I might be the romantic lead, not the funny, fat friend. At the time I was struggling with weight and self-esteem issues. I remember a well-meaning acting teacher praising my talent and comedy chops, but warning me that I either had to figure out my weight problem or be prepared not to work until I was thirty-five and the “big-guy” roles kicked in. Imagine telling a 15-year-old he should pursue acting, but that it would take more than twenty years to get a job. That was both a comedy killer and a dream destroyer. Luckily I was stubborn, and I carved my own path.

Even now, decades later, I don’t see enough characters like Eugene Guterman—my donut-loving, playwright-in-training protagonist—on YA shelves or anywhere else.

When you write a character who doesn’t fit the typical YA hero mold, it forces you to confront some uncomfortable truths. Like how we’re still telling teens (especially teen boys) that their bodies need “fixing” before their stories can begin. Or how we rarely see plus-size characters in rom-coms unless they’re on a journey to become… well, not plus-size.

When Life Tackles You (Sometimes Literally)

Eugene’s story starts with an accidental tackle of the school quarterback. Suddenly, this theater kid who’d rather be writing dialogue finds himself drafted onto the football team and catapulted into the world of “The Pops”—those mythical beings who seem to float above regular high school existence.

It’s the kind of plot twist that would usually lead to a transformation story. But here’s where I decided to flip the script: Eugene doesn’t need to transform. His journey isn’t about changing his body—it’s about changing his mind about his body. And also learning that the people who seem to “have it all” struggle just like everyone else. (For example, the star quarterback, Harry Habib, is terrified of disappointing his dad and his community.) Nobody gets a pass from life—or from being a teenager. It’s really an inside job. As someone who spent years thinking a different body would solve all my problems, I know this journey intimately.

The Challenge of Writing About Body Image

Writing about body image for teens is a bit of a tightrope. Nobody wants a lecture—I sure didn’t when I was a teen. But if you shy away from the subject, you miss the point entirely. Not to mention the obvious–overweight people are not a monolith. Some of us are on a journey of self-love, some on a journey of healthy change, others struggling with serious eating disorders. But we all benefit, from my experience, by starting with acceptance. It’s hard to change what you can’t acknowledge and accept.  

So how do I encompass those different truths? As an author, I’m not here to be all things to all people—I’m mostly trying to represent my own lived experience. But I found it helpful to allow that there are variations on how different characters deal with the issue of weight. My hero has one take, his love interest has another, his friends still another.  And some characters have no idea at all, like Eugene’s physician mother, who with all her medical knowledge, has no real idea what her son is going through.

Humor helps a lot, too. When Eugene stress-eats donuts before his first football practice or has a panic attack when his date walks him into a clothing store, he’s not just living my teenage nightmares—he’s showing readers that it’s okay to laugh at the awkward moments. That discomfort doesn’t have to define us.

The Sweet Conclusion

I learned a lot while writing The Donut Prince of New York, and I had a few uncomfortable flashbacks, too. My personal opinion? Teens don’t need another story about changing themselves to fit in. They need stories that show them they’re already worthy of taking center stage—or center field, or wherever their dreams might lead them.

And maybe it helps to see that the author writing these stories was once just like them: a kid in the back of the theater, dreaming big dreams, and yes, probably thinking about donuts.

In the end, The Donut Prince of New York isn’t just about donuts or theater or football. It’s about the revolutionary act of accepting yourself in a world that often suggests you shouldn’t. When I look at the book on my shelf, I imagine the teen version of me picking up a story like this, and it makes me smile just a little.

Agenda complete.

Books That Get It Right

For librarians looking to support teens on their own journeys of self-acceptance, sometimes the simplest thing is the most powerful: put these books front and center. Here are some titles that pair perfectly with The Donut Prince of New York:

• Starfish by Lisa Fipps (Warning: may cause spontaneous poetry and self-acceptance) https://authorlisafipps.com/books/starfish/

• Chunky by Yehudi Mercado (Because graphic novelists understand body image too) https://supermercado.pizza/projects/7222890

• Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado (Rom-com goals, honestly) https://www.crystalwrote.com/books

• Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy (Because sometimes you need to strut your stuff) http://www.imjuliemurphy.com/dumplin

• Love Is a Revolution by Renée Watson (When loving yourself becomes a revolutionary act) https://www.reneewatson.net/love-is-a-revolution

Meet the author

Allen Zadoff is the award-winning author of The Unknown Assassin Trilogy, Wild & Chance, Food, Girls and Other Things I Can’t Have, and several works of non-fiction. A former stage director, Allen is a graduate of the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University and the Warner Bros Comedy Writers Workshop. He currently lives in Los Angeles. Visit him on the web at www.allenzadoff.com

About The Donut Prince of New York

“A masterful page-turner. You’ll root for Eugene long after the final chapter. Chef’s kiss!”—Lisa Fipps, author of Starfish

Eugene Guterman’s junior year in high school is off to a rocky start. No love life, no new theater production, and if his mother has her way, no more of his favorite comfort food—donuts. Eugene would just as soon spend the year playing small, but that’s hard to do when you’re the biggest kid in your class.

Things change when he accidentally tackles the school’s star quarterback and Coach sees the possibilities and recruits the plus-size playwright onto the varsity football team. Eugene is suddenly catapulted into the world of the “The Pops,” the exclusive clique of popular athletes known for their parties and dating scene. Best of all is the new and mysterious girl Daisy who seems to be noticing him.

Then Eugene discovers that life at the top is more complicated than he imagined— there’s pressure to excel, to fit in, and to uphold a certain image—and Eugene misses his former life and his old friends. Can he find the courage to give it all up, write something real, and maybe, just maybe, be the big guy who actually gets the girl?

“A heartbreaking coming of age tale that finds triumph in failure. Football, first crushes, theater and donuts. I love this book.”—Yehudi Mercado, author of Chunky and Sci-Fu

ISBN-13: 9780823456635
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication date: 11/05/2024
Age Range: 14 – 17 Years

Filed under: Guest Post