Skinny by Ibi Kaslik

author’s website: Ibi Kaslik
release date: September 19, 2006
appeals to: Young Adult
genre: Contemporary / Body Image
length: 256 pages
publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
overall rating: 2.5 Stars
body image & self perception issue: anorexia

*the inside flap*
Holly’s older sister, Giselle, is self-destructing. Haunted by her love-deprived relationship with her late father, Giselle is fighting an all-consuming battle with anorexia. As a track star, Holly struggles to keep her own life in balance while coping with the mental and physical deterioration of her beloved sister. Once a strong role model and top medical student, Giselle is spiraling out of control. And, together, they are holding on for dear life.
This honest look at the special bond between sisters is told from both girls’ perspectives as they narrate alternating chapters. Gritty and often wryly funny, Skinny explores family relationships, love, pain and the hunger for acceptance that drives us all.

*my review*
I had a lot of trouble getting into this book. I picked it up expecting to read a story about two sisters and how they dealt with one of them having an eating disorder. While the book does have the story of two sisters and of how one has an eating disorder, I thought that it talked about so many more topics that I would almost categorize it as a book about self exploration, not just an eating disorder.

The book is told by both Giselle and Holly, and since the girls are very different ages (22 and eighth grade respectively), they do have very different perspectives, which enhances the story. The chapters alternate the narrator, but they aren’t labeled, and it was sometimes difficult to tell who was narrating, especially if you are just picking it up again after a break from reading. It was interesting to read about the girls different explorations as this book progressed. Giselle tells about many of her explorations as memories, and does touch on topics of bisexuality, drug use, drinking, and her history and experiences at medical school. Holly is experiencing things quite differently because she is younger and is trying to discover herself (although she doesn’t say that is what she is doing, and she may not even recognize that is what she is doing, but it is interesting to read). Holly deals with peer pressure in terms of athletics, drinking, drugs, her own body, and boys. Some of these topics lead to some rather explicit explanations, and while the descriptions may be true to topic, they may also be inappropriate for younger readers of YA books.

This book is written in a kind of “stream of consciousness” style that I didn’t care for. There was especially a lot of this when Giselle narrated. She had an interesting internal struggle with a very different version of herself. It was almost as if her intellect was arguing with the disease, but it was difficult to follow sometimes. Even when I was reading and enjoying certain parts of the story, I wasn’t drawn to pick it up. The book dealt with a number of issues that can be important to teenagers, and may appeal to others, but I didn’t care for it.

Second Star to the Right by Deborah Hautzig

author’s website: Deborah Hautzig
original publication date: August 1981
reissued in 1999 by Puffin Books
appeals to: Young Adult
topic: Eating Disorder (anorexia)
length: 158 pages
overall rating: 3 stars
body image & self perception issue: anorexia

*the back cover*
Leslie Hiller is a bright, attractive, talented teenager who leads a privileged life in New York City. She is also a perfectionist. When she starts something, whether it’s a drawing or her homework, she will not stop until it is truly finished. This time, she has started to diet. And Leslie finds herself becoming obsessed, getting thinner and thinner, until she is forced to realize that her quest for perfection is killing her.

*my review*
There were many things about this book that I liked, and many that I didn’t, but the first paragraph of this book was at the top of things I did like. The book starts, “It’s hard to know where to begin . . . I wonder if there’s even such a thing as a beginning . . .” In terms of a story about a girl with an eating disorder, it was interesting that our narrator couldn’t even define where or when it began. She goes on to describe her life as a normal 14-year-old girl living in New York. However, soon we realize that Leslie is obsessed with how she looks. In fact, by page 12, she is describing herself - 5’5.5” and 125 pounds – and says, “If I were think, my life would be perfect” (p. 12). This becomes her mantra throughout the story.

The major struggle with the eating disorder doesn’t begin there. In fact, the beginning of the problem reminded me of a line in the movie, “The Devil Wears Prada,” where a character says, “I’m on stomach flu away from my goal weight.” That seems like such a crazy statement, but for Leslie, that is exactly how her downward spiral into the eating disorder began. During winter break, Leslie had the stomach flu, and when she realizes that the flu caused her to lose enough weight that her jeans were too big, she is motivated to start (and stick to) a diet. The diet she chooses doesn’t seem to bad at first: healthy food and some sit ups are things we could all try. But she takes it to the extreme, working her way from 45 to nearly 700 sit ups, and restricting her food to what I’d estimate is no more than 500 and probably closer to 400 calories a day.

As the story progresses and her disorder becomes more and more severe, a number of changes happen, both physical and psychological. She stops having her period as her weight falls and falls and falls. Even when people point out how thin she is getting, she doesn’t believe it. At one point (p. 51) she and her best friend Cavett have a conversation that captures how twisted Leslie’s self image is. Basically, Cavett wants to know when Leslie is going to be eating again, and Leslie replies by saying, “When I’m thin enough.” Cavett is shocked and says as much, but Leslie continues to affirm that while Cavett IS thin, she isn’t.

At different places in the book, Leslie comments on her current weight and on her goal weight of 105. The scary thing is that when she reaches her goal and still doesn’t feel thin, she keeps losing. She restricts her food intake even more and soon loses the energy to get through the day. But still, she loses weight. There are sentences scattered throughout the novel that count down the pounds with ticks (for example “100, 99, 98, 97, tick, tick, tick.” p. 63) and still, Leslie’s mantra is “I’ll know when I’m thin enough because I’ll be happy.” (p. 61).

One thing that was strange in this novel is that Leslie didn’t want to be sick, she was willing to go to doctors, therapists, psychiatrists, and even to be hospitalized. She just wanted to be thin above all else. When her mother suggests doctors, Leslie goes willingly, even though she knows she is well below the healthy weight for her body. She even agrees to be hospitalized, and yet, she continues to lose weight.

Even though this book was relatively short, I found that it took me a long time to read it. Some places were very slow moving, and others were just difficult to read. Sometimes, there would be paragraphs of Leslie’s thoughts that kind of spiraled around without really making a point, and I kind of got lost during those sections. I didn’t think that they really advanced the plot or added much to her character. And the part I was most disappointed with was the ending. As the end of the book drew closer, I wanted there to be some kind of closure or conclusion, but there really wasn’t. In fact, the book ends with one of Leslie’s thought sequences, and while there were a few good points, it didn’t have enough for me. I even turned the page hoping for a little bit more conclusion! Instead, I found the author’s afterward, and truthfully, that made the best conclusion the book could possibly have had. The afterward doesn’t have spoilers in it, so you could read it at any time, and I think it makes the book so much more meaningful. I’ll leave you with a quote from the afterward:
“Anorexia . . . is not something to be ashamed of. It’s not something to be proud of. It isn’t anybody’s ‘fault.’ It’s an illness – a life-threatening illness – and it’s treatable.” (p. 157 – in the afterward)

*short and snappy*
writing: the book was published in 1981, and I think you can feel the age of the writing. It sounds weird, but I really think that the writing style of YA literature has changed a lot in the last 29 years, and this is reflective of its time.
plot: varied – some places were slow, others moved quickly and kept you hooked
characters: frustrating – Leslie really captures the essence of a girl with anorexia, but it is still frustrating to read her flippantly talking about how she just isn’t thin enough – what makes her a bit more likable is the fact that she doesn’t want to be hurting her family and she does make an effort to explain to them that she can’t help her disorder.
judging by the cover: As I was looking for images of the cover, I actually found three. The first is the one that matched the book I read, but the other two paint interesting pictures too!