This book is not for everybody. It's clearly for pre-teen girls, and it's got "Learn Something From This Book" stamped all over it. It's the story of a girl with a mole. Period.

Molly Martz (not to be confused with Molly "Mormon" Chambers of another LDS young adult book) is fifteen years old and has hated herself for the last four years, starting from about the time a big ugly mole started to grow on her chin. She remembers how much better her "pre-mole" life was, as opposed to her dismal life now. She does get some mean taunting from three girls in particular (whom she thinks of as the "dastardly trio"), but she feels so insecure over her appearance that her mole has practically taken over her life. When she goes to church dances, she leaves just before they turn the lights on so no one will see what she really looks like. When she talks to other people, she quietly worries about what they must be thinking about her mole. Worst of all, her parents won't let her have it removed.

Molly still has some friends, though, and makes new ones throughout the course of the book who help her to see that it's how she chooses to act about it that makes the difference in her life. If she doesn't let it become a big deal, it won't be a big deal to those around her.

The story is pretty straightforward, and that's about the gist of the whole thing. It has a good message that girls that age often need to be reminded of. Like the story, the characters are all pretty linear, and pop up to say whatever's needed at the moment to move the story along. That being said, I thought the choices of characters worked well for the story. Molly has understanding parents (except for the issue of getting her mole removed, although even that changes through the course of the book), an eccentric aunt who has her own style and doesn't care what other people think of her, a good friend who is the same way, and a cute guy friend/potential love interest who likes her for who she is and doesn't let her get away with hiding herself from the world.

I did get tired very quickly of Molly's whiny attitude about how bad her life is because of her mole. Several times I wanted to slap her upside the head and tell her to quit worrying so much! That, of course, is the point of the story, although making the protagonist so whiny does make it more difficult for the reader to sympathize with her.

Another problem was that once Molly finally realized that she didn't have to feel like such a victim, everything was magically better for her. The story ends quickly after her epiphany, and in the meantime she never again loses her self-confidence. This method of storytelling may drive a message home effectively to some young people, but it doesn't do anything for folks who like more realistic resolutions.

Making Mountains out of Moles is not a story I would recommend to anyone for pure enjoyment, but it does have a valuable message. While I'd prefer less moralistic fiction, there is also a place for stories such as this.

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Katie Parker
September 16, 2004