In Fat Kid Rules the World by KL Going, the protagonist, Troy Billings, is an overweight teenager who has no friends and is constantly being laughed at. He decides that he has to future ahead of him and that he should just commit suicide until he meets Curt MacCrae, a high school dropout and guitar legend at Troy’s school. Because of one lie, they form a band together and Troy becomes his drummer, but struggles with him self to decide whether he really wants to be.

Troy changes a lot in this book because he goes from being depressed, insecure, and conservative to a confident, happier teenager who is willing to try new things and put himself out there.

“I’m worried about potentially eternal humiliation. I’m worried about being manipulated into something I absolutely, positively, no-way-in-hell can do…..’I’ve got to go home,’ I say firmly. ‘This has been fun and all, but there’s no way I’m playing a gig. I Can’t play in front of people. I hyperventilate. I can’t. . . do it…'” (Going, p. 68)

“My body swells until I fill the room. I’m not fat. I’m enormous. I look over the crowd and think for the first time, I could be bigger. I could be even bigger…” (Going, p.94)

“I’m a total freak, but that’s no one’s problem but mine. Mine, damn it. Mine with a capital ‘M.’ I am the Rocky Balboa of obese drummers.” (Going, p. 113)

At the beginning of the book, Troy is very self-conscious about himself and always worried about people laughing at him and getting embarrassed. But as the story progresses and as he becomes better friends with curt, he gains more and more self-confidence until he realizes that he shouldn’t be thinking those things about himself, that just because he is fat doesn’t mean he should be lower than everybody else and that being fat is bad. Troy and I are alike because we care a lot about what other people think of us and are worried about being laughed at. Although it might not be as bad for me as it is for Troy, of course I still think about things like that. Also, our friends are very important for both of us. Troy only has one friend, Curt, who is probably the best possible person to be friends with at his school. He worries a lot about saying or doing the wrong thing and then loosing Curt, so a lot of his decisions are based on that. I care a lot about what my friends think of me, too, but the difference between Troy and me is that I don’t really worry about loosing them. Sometimes, like Troy, I will think about what they will think of me if I do something, but I don’t just do exactly what I know they will approve of. A difference between me and Troy is that, because he grew up with no friends, being made fun of, he has very low self-esteem, which means that he always likes to stick to the things he knows and is more scared to try knew things because of the possible consequences. I grew up with many friends and family who supported me, so I am more confident with myself and don’t think about if others will make fun of me if I try something new.