It's the seventh grade "outdoor education trip" to Lake Rescue! Adventure girl Charlotte's excited; city girls Katani and Isabel are not so sure. Of course, outdoor sports are right up Avery's alley, but bugs, snakes, and bears are so not up Maeve's. But no self-respecting BSG wants to miss out on adventures, and the week at Lake Rescue has more than its share: rock climbing, an unfortunate canoeing incident for a Queen of Mean, a hike that turns dangerous -- and the chance for one classmate to discover strengths she didn't know she had.

Obese individuals are twice as likely to experience heart failure as non-obese people. More than eighty-five per cent of type 2 diabetes sufferers are overweight. And in the United States, obese and overweight individuals make up more than two-thirds of the adult population. Public health organizations and governments have traditionally tried to combat obesity through shame-inducing policies, which assure people that they can easily lose weight by eating right and exercising. This generic approach has failed, as it does little to address the personal, genetic, and cultural challenges faced by obese individuals. XXL directly confronts the global public health sector by proposing an innovative, alternative policy - the 'healthy living voucher' - for decreasing high calorie consumption and its related health problems. Neil Seeman and Patrick Luciani argue that many public health campaigns have made the problem of obesity worse by minimizing how difficult it is for individuals to lose weight. XXL challenges governments to abandon top-down planning solutions in favour of bottom-up innovations to confront the obesity crisis.

Katani's favorite magazine, T-Biz!, is running a contest for young entrepreneurs, and she can't wait to surprise her family and the BSG with a prize-winning entry. With the deadline just a week away, major school projects due, and a promise to knit twenty(!) scarves for a Think Pink! fund-raiser, Katani is running out of time. It doesn't make things easier that Maeve has signed up for Betsy Fitzgerald's tutoring service. Betsy is Katani's competition! Katani wants to win the contest on her own, but she needs help -- and who can she turn to if not the BSG?