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Showing posts with label Eating Disorders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eating Disorders. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Powerful and Authentic, MG Verse Novel Offers Hope for Struggling Kids
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Jake Stacy isn't a typical teenage boy. He loves roller skating, musicals, volunteering at a nursing home, reading poetry, and hanging out with his beloved grandmother, his only real friend. At school, he's a target for bullies. At home, he's just as lonely, since his dad is never there and his mom struggles with debilitating depression. Then there's The Voice, which keeps up a constant monologue in Jake's head, reminding him of how weak and worthless he is, especially when he eats too much or doesn't exercise. When his loved ones finally notice how much he's struggling, Jake is admitted against his will to an inpatient facility that treats kids with eating disorders. Furious, he fights against his diagnosis (anorexia nervosa), his doctors, his therapists, and the other patients. It's only when he begins to learn how to battle against The Voice that he finally feels a flutter of hope. Can he really beat the eating disorder that is killing him? Will he finally find health and happiness?
Louder Than Hunger by John Schu deals with some tough, heavy subjects. Not only does it tackle disordered eating, but it also addresses bullying, anger, grief, addiction, hospitalization, self-harm, and more. These matters are discussed in a raw, realistic way, informed by the author's own experience as a teen with similar issues. Because of this, the novel rings with authenticity. However, it never gets too grim for its middle grade audience. Schu infuses the story with hope and encouragement. It also helps that Louder Than Hunger is written in free verse. While the words are still powerful, they're presented in a format that feels somehow lighter and more approachable. Reluctant readers will also be glad to know that although the book looks thick and intimidating, it's actually a very quick read. The novel is not just compelling, but it also teaches some vitally important lessons about conquering negative self-talk, seeking help from trusted adults and professionals, fighting to conquer addictions in spite of setbacks, being your authentic self, and treating others with compassion. In addition, unlike many stories I've read of this type, Louder Than Hunger paints hospitalization as a positive, helpful step toward regaining health instead of as a cold, scary experience that only makes problems worse. Schu credits his own stay in a facility for helping him overcome his struggles. For all these reasons and more, I highly recommend this book to all readers. It's powerful, important, and thought-provoking.
(Readalikes: I can't think of any other middle grade books I've read about eating disorders. You?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for intense/scary situations
To the FTC, with love: I received a copy of Louder Than Hunger from the generous folks at Candlewick Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Friday, January 19, 2018
YA Anorexia Novel Not Mind-Blowing, But Powerful Nonetheless
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
In an ongoing effort to slim down, 16-year-old Elizabeth Barnes has finally starved herself into a size 0. Weighing only 90 pounds, she's elated with her "progress." The side effects she's experiencing, though, are a tad concerning. It's possible she's gone too far—it's possible she might now be "a little bit" anorexic. Alarmed, Elizabeth's parents enroll her in a treatment program at Wallingfield, an in-patient clinic for young women with eating disorders. Elizabeth, a studious good girl, plans to be a model patient, following the rules until she can get back home and continue her extreme weight loss regimen without nosy nurses looking over her shoulder.
As Elizabeth settles into life at Wallingfield, she finds surprising commonality with the other patients. While they swap tips and tricks, offer sabotage and support, the girls become a close-knit family. Elizabeth can't imagine what she'll do without them, especially when she returns home to her weight-obsessed mother. In the meantime, she's receiving care packages at the clinic from a mysterious sender. Could her ex-boyfriend be trying to mend their relationship? Or is some prankster toying with her when she's at her most vulnerable? As she attempts to claw her way back to health, Elizabeth will make some surprising discoveries—about her anonymous gift-giver, about her new friends, and about herself.
What I Lost, a debut novel by Alexandra Ballard, is an affecting story about one teen's rocky journey of self-discovery. As she attempts to achieve wholeness and healing, she really finds herself. Through Elizabeth, Ballard presents a candid portrait of anorexia, showing how difficult the disease is to control and how thoroughly it warps the minds of its victims. Naturally, What I Lost does not offer a perfect ending. It does close on a hopeful note, however, which makes it an uplifting read despite its serious subject matter. Any teen who struggles with body image/eating disorders should find this novel both intriguing, illuminating, and empathy-inducing. Issue novels abound in YA lit; while this one isn't all that original or mind-blowing, it's still powerful.
(Readalikes: Purge by Sarah Darer Littman; Never Enough by Denise Jaden; and Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for language (no F-bombs) and mild sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I bought a copy of What I Lost with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Haven Lake Compelling, Though Not Completely Satisfying
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Haven Lake has always been a place of refuge for drifters, draft dodgers and down-on-their-luckers. In the '60s, its idyllic Berkshire setting provided the perfect backdrop for a peace-touting, free-lovin' hippie commune. Like all the children who lived there, Sydney Bishop pranced naked through its fields and forests, wild and free as a wood sprite. It was only as a teenager, after twin tragedies shattered not just her community, but also her family, that Sydney ran away from Haven Lake, vowing never to return. Desperate to leave her past, with all its dark memories, far behind her, Sydney's kept her promise for two decades.
Now 36, Sydney finds fulfillment in her job as an educational psychologist, her quaint cottage on the shore, and her upcoming marriage to Gary Katz, a handsome surgeon. Soon to be a stepmother, she's worked hard to get to know Dylan, her fiancé's 16-year-old son. When the troubled boy runs away from home, Sydney's sympathetic, but shocked when she learns he's holing up at Haven Lake with Sydney's mother, Hannah. Her astonishment turns to anger when Hannah offers to let Dylan stay and help her with the sheep farm.
Dylan's problems, mixed with Hannah's interference, and Gary's increasingly alarming mood swings, create a toxic cocktail that has Sydney questioning everything about her life. The raging turmoil inside her can't be assuaged, she realizes, until she finds out the truth about what happened on the night her childhood best friend drowned in Haven Lake. Facing the hurt that defines her past may be the only way for Sydney to find future happiness. But, what happens when everything you remember is wrong? And the future you've always dreamed of no longer feels right? As Sydney confronts her haunting past, she'll have to decide whom to believe, whom to trust, and ultimately, whom to blame for the terrible events that turned Haven Lake into a hell of sorrow, guilt, and pain.
It's no secret that I'm a complete sucker for a good damaged-woman-returns-to-her-hometown-to-confront-her-past novel. With a premise like the one I summarized above, it's no surprise that I wanted to read Haven Lake by Holly Robinson. The question is, did it deliver the kind of rich, redemptive story for which I generally go ga-ga? Answer: yes and no. Although the characters are a sad, depressing lot, Robinson takes time to build them into complex, knowable beings. Thus, I felt for them and cared about what happened to them. Plot-wise, the novel roams here and there, with plenty of superfluous subplots that distract from the mystery at the heart of the book. A tighter, more focused story would have made the novel feel more suspenseful and polished. Likewise, I could have done without the graphic language and sex scenes, which, for me, detracted from the overall appeal of the book. In the end, I found Haven Lake compelling, though not completely satisfying.
(Readalikes: Reminds me of other novels with similar premises, although no specific title is coming to mind. Help?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for strong language, sexual content, violence, and depictions of illegal drug use
Friday, September 28, 2012
YA Issue Novel Another Didn't Love It, Didn't Hate It Kind of Book
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
If 16-year-old Loann Rochester could have any wish, it would be this—to trade lives with her older sister. Why? Because Claire is everything Loann's not. She's tall, thin, beautiful, smart and popular. To walk in her shoes, even for a day, would be to know total perfection, absolute happiness. If only. Since wishes never come true outside of fairy tales, Loann's stuck with her own life as a short, plump, red-haired nobody. She might as well be invisible. With Claire around, no one will ever notice Loann.Except someone is noticing. Unless Loann's completely delusional (which is entirely possible), gorgeous Josh Garrison is noticing. Which would be incredible, if he wasn't Claire's boyfriend. And that's another thing—what's up with Claire? She's acting distant and secretive, even from Josh and her other friends. Loann's already got her own friend drama as well as some boy drama and even some drama drama to deal with, she's not sure she can handle sister drama, too. But as Loann makes a disturbing discovery about where Claire's all-consuming quest for perfection has led her, she realizes that Claire's in serious trouble. Life or death trouble. And Claire seems hell-bent on choosing the latter. As Loann tries to save her sister, she'll have to come to terms with her own limitations and rely on an inner strength she never knew she had.
Never Enough, a sophomore novel by contemporary YA author Denise Jaden, is pretty much what you'd expect from a teen issue novel. It tells a story that's affecting and believable, even if it's one you've heard a million times before. While I didn't find either Loann or Claire to be particularly memorable as characters, I definitely felt the strength of their bond as sisters. Since that relationship formed the heart of the book, everything else in the novel felt authentic to me. Still, Never Enough didn't have enough originality to really wow me. Overall, I thought it was just okay, one of those didn't-love-it-didn't-hate-it kind of reads.
(Readalikes: Reminded me of Saving Ruth by Zoe Fishman and Purge by Sarah Darer Littman)
Grade: B-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), sexual content and violence
To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Never Enough from the generous Denise Jaden. Thank you!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Summer Novel's Got More Depth Than You'd Think
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Ruth Wasserman should be content with her life. Not only has she finally managed to burn off the extra pounds that have plagued her for most of her 19 years, but she's also living on her own and working hard to earn a college degree. Now that she's returned home to Alabama for the summer, she should have only one thing on her mind: relaxation. If only. It's not her lifeguard/swim coach job that's got her worried (she could do it in her sleep) or seeing old friends (she looks better now than she ever has), it's the fact that she'll be living with her parents (loving, but overprotective) and her older brother, David (the charming, soccer-playing wonder child). How can she keep her secret to staying slim, well ... secret? 
Turns out, Ruth's not the only one hiding something. David's never been all that chatty anyway, but now he's downright standoffish. He's not acting like himself. The question is why? What's he hiding? Then, there are Ruth's parents, who are also acting strange. What's up with them? As Ruth tries to figure out what's going on with her family, deals with drama at the pool, and tries to keep her eating disorder under wraps, she finds the summer becoming a whole lot more complicated than she ever dreamed it could be. When a near drowning happens while Ruth and David are on the job, it will force them to face truths they've been ignoring for too long—truths about themselves, their family, and the quaint little town in which they've grown up.
(Readalikes: Hm, I can't really think of anything. Can you?)
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for language, sexual content and depictions of underrage drinking and illegal drug use
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Saving Ruth from the generous folks at William Morrow (an imprint of Harper Collins) and TLC Book Tours. Thank you!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Hunger Leaves Me Wanting More
(Image from Barnes & Noble)Seventeen-year-old Lisabeth Lewis doesn't have the healthiest relationship with food. A
nd she's not much for horses. It's a little ironic then that she, of all people, should be the new Famine. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, it's Lisabeth's job to ride her black horse into places where famine and starvation run rampant. She's expected to use her newfound power to bring balance to the hungry. For a girl who wages war against her own appetite every single day, it's going to be a bumpy ride. But with Death threatening to finish what Lisabeth started by downing a fistful of pills, it's not as if she has a choice. Lisabeth's no stranger to secrets - she's always starved herself in private, keeping her anorexia carefully hidden from prying eyes - but this one just might be her undoing. Her boyfriend's already concerned about her, her former best friend's written her off, and her new BFF gets angry when Lisabeth doesn't have time to help her binge and purge. Add in a mother who's either working or issuing backhand compliments ("You'd be really pretty, Lisabeth, if only you'd lose a few pounds."), and the idea of fleeing into the night on a swift stallion is growing on her. In fact, galloping off on her steed gives her a sense of freedom unlike anything she's ever felt.
Playing Famine has its perks, but it's not all fun and games. In order to have the energy she needs to fight hunger, Lisabeth must eat. Eating means stripping off her protective layers, exposing her raw self to her mother's constant needling, the probability that her boyfriend will dump her the second he realizes how screwed up she is, and the poisonous hiss of the Thin voice holed up in her head. It's not just personal sorrow that courses through Lisabeth's emaciated body - she's flooded with the hopeless desperation of children with empty stomachs, mothers who go hungry so their babies can eat, fathers turned to theft to provide for their families. Are her powers strong enough to offer relief? Can she save the starving masses? Heck, she can't even save herself ...
Hunger, the first in a new YA series by Jackie Morse Kessler, puts an original spin on the problem of eating disorders. No issue novel can really escape preachiness, and this one's no exception. However, the creative premise distracts the reader enough to make a point without seeming heavyhanded. Lisabeth is a likable heroine, one who's vulnerable, but funny and strong. It's easy to feel for her, grieve with her, and root for her success. Although I wanted more detail from this appropriately thin book, I still found it compelling and, ultimately, more affecting than I first realized. Kessler's personal battle with anorexia gives Lisabeth's story the power of authenticity, while the paranormal bent lends a dose of levity to an otherwise heavy issue. They work together to make Hunger interesting, original and moving. Although I didn't love, love, love it, it's left me hungry for more from this intriguing series.
A portion of the sales of Hunger will be donated to NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association). The book, which releases in October, is now available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.
(Readalikes: Reminds me of Purge by Sarah Darer Littman and a little of The Girl With the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron)
Grade: B-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (one F-bomb + milder invectives), sexual content, and graphic depiction of binging/purging
To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Hunger from the generous folks at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Thank you!
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Purge Revealing, But Not Riveting
(Image from Barnes & Noble)"I love eating, but hate having eaten. I hate barfing, but love having purged" (55).
Life's not that bad for 16-year-old Janie Ryman. After all, she lives in a nice house; got stellar reviews for her portrayal of Anne Frank in the school play; and has finally caught the eye of Matt Lewis, the most popular guy in her high school. Okay, she has to contend with her blubberous hips and thighs, not to mention Jenny, the most annoyingly perfect half-sister in the world, but still ... things aren't that bad. So, why can't she make it through a whole day without sticking her fingers down her throat? Janie doesn't even like throwing up. Why in the world does she do it?
No one knows the answer to that question - not even Janie - which is why her parents stick her in a psychiatric hellhole known, ironically, as Golden Slopes. It's a facility where Barfers, Starvers and Generally Psycho teenagers gather to battle their various diseases. Janie's sick of the place, tired of the constant supervision, fed up with all the tedious rules, and dying for a smidgeon of privacy so she can purge all her frustration into the nearest toilet. She wants to get better, really she does, but she's not about to spill her secrets to some psychiatrist or, worse, to a group of patients more screwed up than she is. The only place she feels safe enough to reveal anything is in her journal.
Her parents - the Queen of Denial and the High Priest of Positive Thinking - want her out almost as much as Janie does (after all, every day of her incarceration just deepens the blight on the Ryman Family name). Still, they're not responding to her pleading or whining. It appears as if the only thing that can spring Janie loose is actually facing her problems, admitting things about them and about her miserable little life that she's never told anyone before. Janie desperately needs to be free, but is it worth spilling her guts? Wouldn't it be easier to just puke them up instead?
Purge by Sarah Darer Littman is the honest, yet sensitive portrayal of a young girl struggling with bulimia. It's a disease Littman knows intimately - her experience with it gives the story an authentic, insider's view into the psychology behind bulimia, the struggles of living with it day-to-day and the strength it takes to get healthy. While I think the book is both informative and important, it lacked the vibrancy or originality to really capture me. Neither Janie nor the other characters ever edge far enough past their stereotypes to become real. And, while I like that the story ends on a hopeful note, I think Janie's battle with the disease is a little too easy. Is it completely heartless to say that I wanted her to suffer more and fight harder? Probably. All in all, I think Purge is revealing, it just doesn't add anything new or unique to the subject. It's a typical issue novel, but only that. Typical. Average. Nothing super special. In the immortal words of Randy Jackson: "It was just okay for me."
(Readalikes: A teensy bit like The Girl With the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron)
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for strong language and sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Purge from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thanks!
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