Skinny

I have just finished this book. I am a teen and thought it can teach girls alot about eating disorders. While many people make fun of eating disorders and act like they are no big deal, this book shows that they are. It gives you an intense background of how Giselle became an anorexic. it also lets you understand how it affects her mother and younger sister Holly. This book was more of a challenge for me. But with my trusty Webster's dictionary I got through the book and I am happy I did. This book was beautiful. I suggest only a higher skill of readers to try this book, they should also be mature and open minded.

Amazing raw and touching, Skinny is narrated by two sisters who both live with their own problems. One who's just gotten out of the hospital due to an eating disorder and the other who's just trying to figure out herself and what's wrong with her family. The author throws in real facts about Anorexia nervosa every few pages which makes the story more interesting and understandable. The ending could be interpreting in many ways but mine is of something better than what it was like before for the two girls.

Ibi Kaslik thought about what it is like when your sister has an eating disorder, and also takes the book from the perspective if you had that eating disorder. Two sisters recount the days when everything was well, their dad was alive, and when none of them had anorexia. They also talk about the present, their struggles with their relationship, food, and other people. These sisters go through a life changing experience when one of them is on the verge of death. They learn, by leaning on each other, they can work through the bumps and potholes of life.

Holly's older sister is fighting anorexia and Holly herself is trying to cope with her sister's deterioration and change from a top medical student and role model to a sick person in Ibi Kaslik's Skinny. How can she affect her sister's life and how can she consider positive changes in the face of such consuming hungers? SKINNY is a passionate look at anorexia in the family and its effects on the entire family, differing from similar titles that focus on the sufferer alone.

Giselle is an intelligent, over-achieving medical student who is self-destructive and tormented by her relationship with her dead father. Holly is a blossoming young track star that struggles academically for several reasons, including the fact that she is hearing impaired. Giselle has been hospitalized and forced to return home to recover from anorexia. SKINNY tells the story of the effects of Giselle's illness on these two sisters now that Giselle has come back to the family home. The sisters take turns narrating the story. Each chapter told from Giselle's perspective is laced with medical textbook excerpts that hold keys to the story. Holly's chapters are often brief and yet very poignant. The book details both sisters learning their family history and struggling with its effect on their current lives. The dialogue between the sisters is very well written, as are their inner monologues. This book has many subplots and some come together in the end and others are not tied up so neatly. At times it feels as though Kaslik has attempted to write two completely different books about the same characters and weaved them together and yet, overall, the story is incredibly moving and emotional. Each sister's words force the reader to empathize with them despite the fact that they often seem to be battling against each other. Overall, Kaslik has written a remarkable book about the devastating effects of eating disorders on both the person suffering from the illness and those around them. This book is incredibly weighty and touches on some incredibly intense issues at times, and would likely pose a challenge to even some of the strongest high school readers. But their efforts would not be wasted, as it is an incredibly satisfying read. It is accessible on several levels, so if a younger reader were to read this book they would likely take something from it as well, but revisiting the book later would likely reveal a more complex set of issues and themes. Reviewed by: Allison M. Rotonda