Dara Cohen had felt the sting of being overweight for a long time, and almost everyone seems to hold it against her. So as a senior, when asked to pick a topic for her school autobiography project, Dara decides to put herself on display in a bold show of protest against society's misplaced standards of beauty. But the project only brings Dara heartache, her parents dramatizing her motives and pulling her from class. Feeling embarrassed and rejected, Dara opts to visit her estranged sister at the Jezebel Goat Farm in Hollis, Massachussetts. Life on the farm becomes a cooperative experience for Dara that encourages true bonds of family and discovery of her own self worth. 

The Jezebel Goat Farm is like no place Dara has ever known. It's a kind of refuge where people can just be. And it isn't the kind of place where anyone comments negatively about weight or the meals one eats, which are delectable. The atmosphere is completely different from that of Dara's home, with a quiet kind of freedom and an expectation for everyone to pitch in. Dara's sister, Rachel, is calm, friendly, welcoming and mostly silent. Dara doesn't know her at all because Rachel and her parents haven't spoken in years; they have said that Rachel is a terrible person, capable of dreadful things. But Dara finds that Rachel isn’t at all what she expected and an understatement to everything Dara has known in her life with her parents. Rachel is accepting, poor and content. She is also an excellent cook and the head of the whole cheese-making business of the farm. And she is a lesbian.

The other farmhands are people of all ages, most of them gay or lesbian. One of the most inviting and friendly of the bunch is Owen, a gorgeous senior whose family rejected him when he announced that he was gay, so he now lives full-time at Jezebel Farm. Dara works daily with Owen, getting up at the crack of dawn to look after and milk the goats to make cheese. Dara and Owen have a lot in common and become friends in no time.

Dara's experiences at the farm are truly life-changing and help her find herself. She feels a quiet solace in working there, and being on her own brings out the best in her. She will have to face her parents again and all the others who judge her for her weight, but after being with people who have also faced the same pressures, Dara feels that she is strong enough and can finally belong somewhere. She will find a way to prove her worth, and Owen, Rachel and the others at the farm will help her.

Megan Frazer’s brilliantly written debut novel delves into some very difficult experiences teens go through growing up. The statements made here about prejudice and accepting others are universal and important. The story is organic and stirring, and life on the Jezebel Goat Farm is significant. Dara and Owen are characters like so many young adults today, and this is the kind of book that can really make a difference for anyone struggling to find themselves. I wish there were more novels like SECRETS OF TRUTH & BEAUTY.

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