Review Detail

Katy Baileys life has just been turned upside down. Shes supposed to be starting high school with her close-knit group of friends; instead, her parents are packing her off to Sarasota, Florida. Katy immediately goes into a tailspin where she feels like the only thing she can control is what she eats and thereby, her weight.

She spends her time missing her friends, avoiding the people at her new school, picking fights with her parents, and analyzing every scrap of anything that goes into her body. Soon, shes lost a lot of weight&enough for other people to notice and be concerned.

Thats when the real battle begins. Will Katy listen to her parents and her doctor? Or will she continue down the path shes chosen? Will a new friend convince her that maybe shes alright the way she is?

Everything Changes is a solid look at a girl with an eating disorder. Told in Katys voice, you hear her side of things. While that makes the story more immediate, the only problem I had with it is that Katy is&.well, shes just not very likable. In fact, she can be downright unpleasant to her family, to her friends, to pretty much anyone. Shes not even a glass half-empty person more like everything-spilled-out-and-now-my-glass-is-broken kind of girl.

Of course, who says that you have to actually like the main character to enjoy the book? The details about her eating disorder are accurate and truthful and, at least by the end of the book, Katy is starting to turn herself and her life around.

Recommended for readers aged 12 and up, especially girls who deal with their body image (or lack of) every day.