About living with an eating disorder. Val has always just wanted to please her mother, who puts constant pressure on her to watch her eating habits and stay thin. To an unhealthy degree. Val has the support of a caring and loving friend- but is confused why her friend gets attention from boys even though she’s a bit overweight, and upset that her mother always points to her friend’s body size as a negative example (you don’t want to become like her). It’s very hurtful. A class trip to Paris is really trying for Val- there’s so much good, tempting food, and it’s hard to hide her condition and symptoms. Then there’s a sudden family tragedy to deal with, and she has to learn to love herself, accept her own body, and find a path to healing. The ending felt a bit too easily resolved in some ways (conflict between the friends) and not at all in others (she has to live with the fact that her mother will never understand, never recognize what she’s done or really change). This is one of those books that was hard to put down, even though difficult to read, and I kept thinking about it afterward.
Borrowed from the public library.
