Review Detail

Ellie, like a lot of girls her age, feels fat. Her two best friends, Magda and Nadine, are skinny and beautiful. Ellie feels like a cow next to them.

Ellie really isn't fat. She's normal-sized, if there is a such a thing. But after a trip to the mall where Nadine and Magda join a group of girls trying out for a modeling spot, Ellie can only see herself as a huge, blubbery whale.

Sound familiar to anyone? If you're a teenager, there's a pretty good chance you've felt this way yourself at least once in your life.

Ellie tries to just not eat, which any doctor can tell you is not the way to go. She soon finds herself in a vicious cycle of not eating, then binging and purging.

She also starts exercising a bit, which is a good thing to do, unless taken too far. While swimming, she meets up with an old friend from school. Zoe has an even more serious problem than Ellie. She's taken weight loss to health-threatening levels that even Ellie can recognize as dangerous.

Zoe winds up in the hospital and Ellie winds up coming to her senses, after quite a bit of struggle. Reading the book, you want to alternately slap her or cheer for her. This is an honest book. Ellie can be at times perfectly horrid and illogical, then sweet and sincere. Yep, just like a real teenage girl.

Of the books in the Girls Trilogy, this might be my favorite. The other books in the series are a little more typical in their storylines (first love, first date, the progression of friendships). This one has an edge. I recommend it especially for teenage girls.