Seventeen-year-old Emily feels like a chubby plain Jane. It seems like Leah, her best friend since middle school, has turned into a beauty queen overnight. Leah is considering a modeling career, and Emily's secret crush Brett has even asked Leah to the prom. When Leah takes Emily along on her first photo shoot and starts talking about having breast-reduction surgery, Emily feels uglier than ever. Somehow, snacking on junk food seems to ease the pain. As a Christian, Emily knows "inner beauty" is more important than physical appearances, but frankly she is starting to hate herself. Leah hatches a plan to give Emily a long-term makeover and encourages her to start a reasonable exercise and diet plan. It's slow-going and frustrating. As school comes to an end, Leah's aunt announces her plans to send Leah to send to a two-week modeling school in Chicago, but her father will not allow her to go unless Emily agrees to go with her. Two days before the school begins, Emily is dismayed to see she's lost only three pounds. The modeling school isn't as horrible as Emily expects, mostly because the skinny chicks seem to accept her, and they are willing to share their diet secrets, which are far more extreme than Leah's. But they are effective! Energized by the speedy results, Emily soon finds herself on a weight-loss slide she can't seem to stop.
Later that summer, the friends work as church-camp counselors for a bunch of mean girls, and Emily's physical health begins to decline. Leah has a cosmetic surgery that goes terribly awry. Together they must find their way back to a godly understanding of what it means to be truly beautiful.
