Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this heartfelt, honest memoir, the author uses a graphic novel format to reveal her anguished, ongoing struggle with bulimia. Shivack's story unfolds largely through rudimentary drawings with captions and speech balloons, many created on paper napkins while she was being treated for her eating disorder. Setting the scene, the author initially depicts her rather contentious relationship with her mother, a Holocaust survivor who "had very strong ideas about food," insisting that her three daughters finish everything on their dinner plates even though she herself ate only once a day ("just enough to keep herself going, not a bite more"). Shivack notes that her eating disorder (which she depicts as a monster named "Ed") started when she began swimming competitively in high school-her coach criticized those swimmers who needed to lose weight. Feeling a part of that category, Shivack launched a regimen of binging, purging and compulsive exercising. In a poignant drawing, she likens her daily routine as a teen to a perilous climb up a steep, jagged mountain. Her dizzying downward spiral is sobering indeed, as her bulimia takes over her life and she becomes suicidal. Yet Shivack ends on a hopeful note, vowing, as an adult, to continue on her road to recovery. Statistics about eating disorders are found throughout the book, which concludes with a list of resources. Though intensely personal and-perhaps of necessity-repetitious, this harrowing chronicle may well provide support and solace to teens facing a similar crisis. Ages 12-up. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Shivack's personal narrative and graphic-novel-style depiction of her eating disorder, including anorexia and bulimia, is disturbing, revealing, and ultimately enlightening. Chronicled on napkins, notebook paper, or whatever scrap was available, Nadia's story unfolds as she endures it. She refers to her eating disorder as "Ed," draws it as a dragon, and details its hold on her life and sanity starting at age 14. This is a work that speaks to the victims, revealing the inner turmoil, possible causes, and pain. Especially poignant are the pictures, such as the anatomy of a flower with a torment of words on each petal describing her angst while a small figure leans over the central blue seed, the toilet bowl. The drawings are laid out on yellow pages, while a hindsight commentary about what was happening appears in white type over black boxes. Facts about the illness are presented in darker yellow boxes and each is linked to a specific Web site at the conclusion. A list of resources for intervention is appended. While the handwritten text and complex images are occasionally hard to decipher, readers will be motivated to stick with them as they decode the messages. The time it takes to examine the text and drawings heightens the book's impact. Filled with harrowing honesty, this presentation provides a portal to understanding a devastating illness.-Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Shivack hoarded candy in her sock drawer when she was six years old. Her svelte mother, a Holocaust survivor, ate only enough food to stay alive. At 14, when her swimming coach criticized her weight, she plunged into a lifelong eating disorder. Shivack's stirring memoir, largely illustrated with pictures drawn on napkins when she was in treatment for anorexia and bulimia, creatively chronicles her dangerous, decades-long obsession with food and her exhausting fight for control. Her whimsical cartoons range from adolescent doodlings to vivid, visceral paintings. One piece, captioned "This is what happens when you purge," shows a girl's naked pink body with extra, dismembered and split limbs, a finger down a throat and a bright orange head. It is stark and beautiful. Unfortunately, the riveting personal account is punctuated by clinical facts about eating disorders (in all caps!) that somewhat detract from the work's raw artistry. But, no matter. This intimate, often brutal portrait of an enduring illness will be eye-opening for the uninitiated, and painfully familiar to those in its clutches. (afterword, eating disorder resources) (Nonfiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
