A fat, half-Puerto Rican teenager secretly uses her friend's face to create a fake Instagram account in Crystal Maldonado's nuanced YA novel about balancing control and boundaries. No Filter and Other Lies is a compelling and heartening read with a remarkable protagonist, authentic characters, an addictive plot and vital messages about healthy relationships.

Seventeen-year-old Kat Sanchez wishes her Instagram account had more followers. For that, she needs to compete with "perfect influencers" who look nothing like her: "So few are brown. None are fat." But Kat feels this shouldn't make a difference--her Instagram page showcases her photography, not her image. "Doesn't my art matter?" she wonders.

Her dismal following is only one aspect of her life over which Kat feels she has no control. Her apparent powerlessness is one of the reasons she tells lies, like the ones she uses to avoid admitting that her feelings for Hari, her best friend and sometimes hookup, are platonic. Her all-male friend group is constantly "on"--always "vying for the funniest joke or wittiest retort... but with Hari [she] can just... breathe." She doesn't want him as a boyfriend but also doesn't want to lose him, especially since he's the only one who knows her biggest secret: that she doesn't have a good relationship with her parents. When they were 18 and pregnant with Kat's younger brother, they moved to their own house and left Kat to live with her grandparents: "I don't know why. And maybe I won't ever find out."

One Fur All, the animal shelter where Kat works, brings her solace. A few of the photos she has taken of the big dogs for social media have even gone "semiviral" and the adoption rate has increased since she was hired; "I count it among my greatest victories when I help get one of them adopted." Working alongside her is Becca, who quit social media after her success as a YouTuber pulled her into a dark place of obsession over views, creepy commenters and online cliques. "I'm almost a little annoyed that she gave it up so easily," Kat thinks. "What I wouldn't give for that kind of visibility."

After one awful day of feeling rejected, Kat uses a photo of Becca to start a new Instagram account. "Max Monroe" soon has more followers than Kat's real account. She even attracts the attention of Elena, a popular Instagrammer with a "sugary" aesthetic and confident vibe. Kat-as-Max starts to confide in Elena, relieved to finally have a connection with someone. Though the fake persona becomes too complex to maintain and by lying she could lose everything she's earned, Kat would rather risk it than return to the lie she's carried all her life: "the lie that I'm wanted."

Maldonado (Fat Chance, Charlie Vega) allows her characters to act like real teens: emotional, messy. They bicker with each other, stop talking and resume talking, tease and encourage. Though Kat comes into her queerness during the story's events ("So, bisexuality confirmed"), the plot doesn't shift focus to a coming-out story. Her newfound attraction to girls is portrayed as a natural path in her wider journey, not as a hardship. Maldonado seamlessly incorporates Kat's first date with a girl--the stomach butterflies, the casual-but-not-too-casual outfit decisions, the conversation that warms like a carefully tended fire.

A touchingly rendered relationship between Kat and her grandparents adds wholesome interactions that, besides being much needed and thoroughly enjoyable, serve as acknowledgment of how familial support and love ("my grandparents are always reminding me that I'm enough") can be a huge help in tempering the tailspins characteristic of young adulthood. Her grandparents further model a kind of unity and working partnership that Kat doesn't see between her own parents.

The validation Kat seeks from Instagram seems to relate to her abandonment by her parents; being "unwanted" by them intensifies her need to be seen and admired. The fact that her brother--"the chosen one"--lives at home worsens the blow for Kat, an example of the way even perceived preferential treatment is demoralizing. Moreover, Kat's weekly dinner with her parents feels to her like dining with strangers; through Kat's efforts to maintain ties with them, Maldonado acknowledges the exhausting nature of one-sided relationships. Kat's yearning for positive attention becomes most apparent in her resolute determination to find a home for Cash, a three-legged pit bull no one wants to "deal with." Securing a family for Cash is a constant guidepost for Kat, one that she never ignores. Together these scenarios reflect a universal desire to be wanted--to be recognized for one's strengths, to be accepted as oneself, to be loved without conditions.

Remarkably, through it all, Kat never seeks to change herself. Not her body, "the wrong kind of fat." Not being half Puerto Rican and mediocre at speaking Spanish. Not her job at the dog shelter or her home with her grandparents in Bakersfield, Calif., a city "two hours from anything that matters." Kat's certainty about who she is, what she likes and what she wants to be known for adds an important element: Maldonado's protagonist is a self-confident teen who simply wants a say in how people see her. It's believable, then, that a desperation builds so strongly in her that she won't shut down the fake Instagram account. Readers will know her lie is bound to backfire, which makes the novel all the more captivating. --Samantha Zaboski

Crystal Maldonado writes inclusive YA stories about fat brown girls. Her debut novel, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega, is a 2021 New England Book Award winner, a Cosmopolitan Best New Book and a PopSugar Best New YA Novel. Her work has been published in Latina, BuzzFeed and the Hartford Courant. Maldonado lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, daughter and dog. No Filter and Other Lies (Holiday House, February 8, 2022), her second YA novel, explores teenage life in the social media age--and the lies we tell ourselves and others.

Kat scrolls through Instagram and obsesses over strangers' "perfect" accounts. How did you make this feel so real, and how does it affect Kat?

Kat's obsession with her seemingly perfect Instagram feed is something that feels very real to me. I know I've been guilty of falling down the rabbit hole on my own social media feeds. I've looked up from my phone feeling worse than ever before because I've been bombarded by beautiful people living seemingly flawless lives. It can be difficult to keep things in perspective when we are seeing the highlight reels of the lives of everyone we follow. We compare ourselves to that, even though sometimes the images aren't even real! I think it's even more difficult when you're a teenager, and it might feel like everyone is hanging out without you or that everyone has everything figured out.

Though she suspects her lack of Instagram followers is partially due to her being fat, Kat never once wishes she could change her body. Why was it so important for you to portray a teen girl who wasn't trying to change her body?

I wanted Kat to be a fat girl who was okay with her body because I think there's great power in that. There is strength in saying, "I know I don't fit in with society's expectations, and that's okay." For many fat readers, they've rarely had a chance to see a main character who wasn't wholly consumed by thoughts about their body. I wanted to make this story about a person who happens to be fat rather than a person who is learning to love their body. Both stories are valid and important, but it was nice to focus on this messy, complicated girl and have her fatness be one trait of many.

Why does Kat start a fake Instagram when her worst fear is people thinking she's fake?

Although Kat wants to seem authentic, her desire for acceptance drives her. She's both disappointed by her hypothesis (essentially, if she were a thin, attractive white girl, she would get more attention and appreciation) being true and enamored by it. Finally, as this fake person, she gets the dizzying affection she's wanted.

The solution to Kat's problem might seem easy: delete the fake Instagram account. Why can't she bring herself to do that?

From that first day, Kat is totally addicted to the high that comes with this fake life she's created. I think we all know the thrill of getting a new like or comment on our social media posts, and this new account seems to open a whole new world of possibility for her. Even though the likes aren't really for her, she is able to rationalize in her head that she's deserving of them because they're her photos and because she writes the captions. We're often reluctant to admit that we like attention and connection, but it's such a natural need. For the first time, this girl who has felt unloved and powerless has both of those things. It's hard for her to say goodbye to that.

Another struggle Kat battles is being "too brown" for Instagram but seemingly not Puerto Rican enough for her friend. Why was this important to you to include?

I wanted to show this duality of being Latina. Like Kat, I am Puerto Rican and have often felt like I was "too brown" for many white spaces while simultaneously being "too white" for Puerto Rican spaces. Some of that was certainly self-imposed, as I've been concerned that my inability to speak Spanish or my interests in artists like Harry Styles makes me seem out of place. It took me a long time to realize that these experiences don't take away from my Latina identity and instead are part of what makes the Latinx experience so rich, diverse and beautiful.

Cash, the three-legged pit bull that no one will adopt, has such a touching subplot, one that seems to parallel Kat's own struggles. What drove you to include Cash?

When I initially started writing Cash into the story, I had just wanted to write about how dogs are the best and they deserve all the belly rubs. Then, I started to see similarities between Cash and Kat--two beings who feel a little rejected from the world--and they develop this very sweet connection and mutual understanding. Pets have such a magical way of coming into our lives exactly when we need them, and I like to think of Cash and Kat's relationship in that way.

What would you like teens who relate to Kat to take away from her story?

Social media should be fun, and if it's making you feel negative about yourself in any way, it's time to do something about it: uninstall the apps, curate your feed by unfollowing or muting accounts that bring out those bad feelings, take a break, go for a walk, whatever.

I also wanted to share that there's some normalcy to feeling uncomfortable in your skin, like Kat does, at certain parts of your life. The best thing you can do is to try to find things that make you feel good about yourself. Find people who really get and appreciate you, do things that make you feel happy and whole and try to become your own friend. If you can learn to give yourself the empathy and grace that you extend to the people you care about most, you'll realize you're pretty wonderful.

What was writing your sophomore novel like compared to writing your debut?

My terror of writing this book was on another level. With Fat Chance, Charlie Vega, it was pretty much all sunshine and rainbows because I had no idea what to expect, and then people embraced Charlie and her story with such kindness and warmth that it felt like a dream. I was (and am!) so nervous to share this book with the world because it's so different from my debut. I worry people might be disappointed in Kat and her decisions. But I think hers is such a human and important story to tell, and I hope there is room in everyone's heart for Charlie and for Kat, too. I think they would even be friends. --Samantha Zaboski