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Dancing with Ana
Dancing with Ana is the story of sixteen year old Beth Baxter's struggle with the abandonment of her father. Since her father left a year ago, Beth's life merely resembles the one she's always known. Her pain slowly increases as the shock of his departure fades. Needing a distraction, Beth focuses on a new diet to lose ten pounds. Together with her three best friends, she embarks on a journey of desperation...and destruction. The one constant in her life is Jeremy, the boy she's grown up with who's become the young man she loves. This is a story about the journey to acceptance of one's own reality, the incredible bond that exists between friends and a love that truly endures all things.
- GenresYoung AdultFiction
170 pages, Paperback
First published July 13, 2009
1 person is currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Barker
2 books7 followersNicole Barker grew up in Portland, Oregon and attended Southern Oregon
State College in the town of Ashland. Nestled in the foothills of the
Siskiyou Mountains, Nicole took to writing while pursuing a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Humanities with a strong emphasis on early childhood
development. Shortly after graduation, she spent several months
traveling around the United States and parts of Canada. Nicole now
lives in south Florida with her husband, two kids, two dogs, toads,
frogs, hermit crabs and fish. She is currently working on her second YA
book.
State College in the town of Ashland. Nestled in the foothills of the
Siskiyou Mountains, Nicole took to writing while pursuing a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Humanities with a strong emphasis on early childhood
development. Shortly after graduation, she spent several months
traveling around the United States and parts of Canada. Nicole now
lives in south Florida with her husband, two kids, two dogs, toads,
frogs, hermit crabs and fish. She is currently working on her second YA
book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
September 10, 2009
4.5 stars
Dancing With Ana is a touching read told from the heart with a teen voice.
Beth, Rachel, Melanie and Jenny have been best friends since they were little. These normal, very real girls from varying backgrounds struggle with real issues that affect many teens today. They aren't just characters in a book, they could very well be the girls next door. This story is about friendship, not just the girls' friendship but the friendship between Beth and Jeremy which is blossoming into first love. It's about the strength and support of friendship providing a safe harbour from despair.
A gorgeous, popular and thin girl at school becomes the catalyst for the four friends to make a pact to lose weight with an extreme diet. What starts off as just a few pounds, turns into an obsession for Beth and quickly becomes a destructive way for her to gain some control in her emotionally out-of-control life. And so begins the dance with anorexia; not someone in the unrelenting grip of the disease, devoured by the illness but someone who could go either way.
I think Nicole Barker does a wonderful job of capturing youthful essence in this novel. The emotional cost for children of divorce was sensitively and insightfully written and having been through divorce and having teens myself I thought the problems, emotions and actions of the characters were portrayed with honesty & believability.
A little book with important subject matter, sensitively written.
Dancing With Ana is a touching read told from the heart with a teen voice.
Beth, Rachel, Melanie and Jenny have been best friends since they were little. These normal, very real girls from varying backgrounds struggle with real issues that affect many teens today. They aren't just characters in a book, they could very well be the girls next door. This story is about friendship, not just the girls' friendship but the friendship between Beth and Jeremy which is blossoming into first love. It's about the strength and support of friendship providing a safe harbour from despair.
A gorgeous, popular and thin girl at school becomes the catalyst for the four friends to make a pact to lose weight with an extreme diet. What starts off as just a few pounds, turns into an obsession for Beth and quickly becomes a destructive way for her to gain some control in her emotionally out-of-control life. And so begins the dance with anorexia; not someone in the unrelenting grip of the disease, devoured by the illness but someone who could go either way.
I think Nicole Barker does a wonderful job of capturing youthful essence in this novel. The emotional cost for children of divorce was sensitively and insightfully written and having been through divorce and having teens myself I thought the problems, emotions and actions of the characters were portrayed with honesty & believability.
A little book with important subject matter, sensitively written.
September 6, 2009
Dancing with Ana by Nicole Barker is the story of four teenage girls who decide that they could be perfectly happy in life if they lost about 10 lbs. each. Here's the synopsis from the back of the book:
Beth is a lucky girl...She comes from a loving family. She has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she's grown up with has the most amazing green eyes... Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed. Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?
At just 170 pages, Dancing with Ana is the kind of quick read that can be finished in a single evening. Even so, I went into it expecting more than was delivered. I wasn't sure I even wanted to review it here, because I just didn't end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would.
The two major things that didn't really work for me were the structure of the novel and the "happy ending." As you can see from the synopsis, the book zeroed in on Beth's experiences with her "diet" over a two week period. While watching Beth, the reader is also treated to glimpses into the lives of her three friends, Jenny, Melanie and Rachel. The four girls are practically inseparable, and when Beth decides she needs to lose weight, they decide they all need to lose weight. The problem I had with the structure was that Beth's story wasn't all that interesting to me. I felt as I was reading, that Rachel would have been a much better character to focus on. Rachel was the girl with the absolute worst home life, and yet she was able to overcome much more than the other girls, which made her more "real" form me. I wish Barker had chosen to make her story about Rachel - maybe even from Rachel's unique point-of-view - and written the experiences of the other girls from Rachel's perspective.
Now about that happy ending... While I was reading, I really didn't see how Dancing with Ana could end well. It deals with some very serious subjects: eating disorders and body image, divorce and betrayal, first love - there was really just too much story for such a slim volume. When the time came to wrap things up - in the last 20 pages or so - all of the girls MAJOR problems were tied up neatly, like in one of those family sitcoms from the 80's. The ending felt really rushed and quite frankly, fake. I know what you're going to say, "Well, this is fiction, Suzie-Q." And I know that. I just felt that in dealing with all of these extremely serious problems, Barker lets her characters down by making things too easy for them.
The one thing that I really liked about Dancing with Ana were the characters. Despite the short length of the book, I felt that I "knew" each of the girls, and could identify with their teenage angst. In fact, had the book been even just twice as long, it would have been much better. With such compelling subject matter, I know I would have enjoyed reading more about each of the girls and the experiences both separately and together.
Please don't disregard Dancing with Ana based solely on my review. Most of the other reviews I've read have been extremely positive, and you should definitely read those reviews if this subject interests you. The concept was exceptional, and I probably would have gotten more from Dancing with Ana if I had been a member of the target audience (young adult.) This is one novel which I just would not recommend for adult readers. I'm sure that a YA audience would find Dancing with Ana both compelling and thought provoking, with memorable characters and a relateable and timely subject.
Beth is a lucky girl...She comes from a loving family. She has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she's grown up with has the most amazing green eyes... Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed. Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?
At just 170 pages, Dancing with Ana is the kind of quick read that can be finished in a single evening. Even so, I went into it expecting more than was delivered. I wasn't sure I even wanted to review it here, because I just didn't end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would.
The two major things that didn't really work for me were the structure of the novel and the "happy ending." As you can see from the synopsis, the book zeroed in on Beth's experiences with her "diet" over a two week period. While watching Beth, the reader is also treated to glimpses into the lives of her three friends, Jenny, Melanie and Rachel. The four girls are practically inseparable, and when Beth decides she needs to lose weight, they decide they all need to lose weight. The problem I had with the structure was that Beth's story wasn't all that interesting to me. I felt as I was reading, that Rachel would have been a much better character to focus on. Rachel was the girl with the absolute worst home life, and yet she was able to overcome much more than the other girls, which made her more "real" form me. I wish Barker had chosen to make her story about Rachel - maybe even from Rachel's unique point-of-view - and written the experiences of the other girls from Rachel's perspective.
Now about that happy ending... While I was reading, I really didn't see how Dancing with Ana could end well. It deals with some very serious subjects: eating disorders and body image, divorce and betrayal, first love - there was really just too much story for such a slim volume. When the time came to wrap things up - in the last 20 pages or so - all of the girls MAJOR problems were tied up neatly, like in one of those family sitcoms from the 80's. The ending felt really rushed and quite frankly, fake. I know what you're going to say, "Well, this is fiction, Suzie-Q." And I know that. I just felt that in dealing with all of these extremely serious problems, Barker lets her characters down by making things too easy for them.
The one thing that I really liked about Dancing with Ana were the characters. Despite the short length of the book, I felt that I "knew" each of the girls, and could identify with their teenage angst. In fact, had the book been even just twice as long, it would have been much better. With such compelling subject matter, I know I would have enjoyed reading more about each of the girls and the experiences both separately and together.
Please don't disregard Dancing with Ana based solely on my review. Most of the other reviews I've read have been extremely positive, and you should definitely read those reviews if this subject interests you. The concept was exceptional, and I probably would have gotten more from Dancing with Ana if I had been a member of the target audience (young adult.) This is one novel which I just would not recommend for adult readers. I'm sure that a YA audience would find Dancing with Ana both compelling and thought provoking, with memorable characters and a relateable and timely subject.
September 20, 2009
Beth and her three best friends have decided to go on a diet after admiring one of the prettiest girls in school. Maybe they should lose a couple of pounds… The girls decide to go on a diet. They’ll cut back on what they eat, drink a lot more water to stay full, and stick together. Losing the extra baggage will not only make them look and feel better but they’ll get way more attention.
But the diet turns into something far worse, especially for Beth. She’s already having a tough time at home. Her father left Beth, her brother, and her mother for his much younger secretary about a year ago and is slowly pushing Beth and her brother out of his life. Beth struggles to come to terms that she may have lost her father. On top of her father issue, and her controlling diet, she starts to realize her growing feeling towards her best guy friend Jeremy (who I really liked, btw). Not the greatest time to have a ginormous crush on someone she’s known forever.
The other girls, Rachel especially, have some light shown on them as glimpses of their lives come into the story. I wanted a little bit more with them. I think it definitely wouldn’t have hurt to delve further into their lives. However, I’m thinking this story belonged more to Beth, so I understand.
Beth was a very real and endearing character. I could see her losing control of her eating habits and her life without her noticing it. It was entirely believable to see how a few pounds could turn into more and inevitably never be good enough. When she had to hide things from her mother and Jeremy it bothered her but became easier with each little lie she told. It was very realistic and made me think what an excellent Lifetime movie this would make! (Yes, I have a thing for Lifetime movies lol)
The only thing I had a problem with (and it could just be my bitter fat girl self speaking) was the fact that these girls were all small in the first place. It just bothers me, on a personal level, when (already) thin girls think they need to lose weight. Being active and staying in shape is entirely different. These girls thought they needed to lose weight to be beautiful. And I know many young women and older women alike sometimes think this way so I can totally understand why Barker wrote her characters the way that she did. I know I’ve looked at plenty of other women and wanted to be thin – like them, thinking that would make beautiful. So I appreciate Nicole Barker’s honesty with her characters.
I wasn’t thrilled with the writing. I just wanted…more in so many different areas. However, I think Nicole Barker has some great potential and I found myself pretty satisfied after closing the book. I admire the steps she took in taking on the teen issues that she did. It has a lot to offer and I think DANCING WITH ANA would be an excellent choice for all teens. I look forward to seeing what she will come up with next.
But the diet turns into something far worse, especially for Beth. She’s already having a tough time at home. Her father left Beth, her brother, and her mother for his much younger secretary about a year ago and is slowly pushing Beth and her brother out of his life. Beth struggles to come to terms that she may have lost her father. On top of her father issue, and her controlling diet, she starts to realize her growing feeling towards her best guy friend Jeremy (who I really liked, btw). Not the greatest time to have a ginormous crush on someone she’s known forever.
The other girls, Rachel especially, have some light shown on them as glimpses of their lives come into the story. I wanted a little bit more with them. I think it definitely wouldn’t have hurt to delve further into their lives. However, I’m thinking this story belonged more to Beth, so I understand.
Beth was a very real and endearing character. I could see her losing control of her eating habits and her life without her noticing it. It was entirely believable to see how a few pounds could turn into more and inevitably never be good enough. When she had to hide things from her mother and Jeremy it bothered her but became easier with each little lie she told. It was very realistic and made me think what an excellent Lifetime movie this would make! (Yes, I have a thing for Lifetime movies lol)
The only thing I had a problem with (and it could just be my bitter fat girl self speaking) was the fact that these girls were all small in the first place. It just bothers me, on a personal level, when (already) thin girls think they need to lose weight. Being active and staying in shape is entirely different. These girls thought they needed to lose weight to be beautiful. And I know many young women and older women alike sometimes think this way so I can totally understand why Barker wrote her characters the way that she did. I know I’ve looked at plenty of other women and wanted to be thin – like them, thinking that would make beautiful. So I appreciate Nicole Barker’s honesty with her characters.
I wasn’t thrilled with the writing. I just wanted…more in so many different areas. However, I think Nicole Barker has some great potential and I found myself pretty satisfied after closing the book. I admire the steps she took in taking on the teen issues that she did. It has a lot to offer and I think DANCING WITH ANA would be an excellent choice for all teens. I look forward to seeing what she will come up with next.
August 19, 2009
A guest post from my Granddaughter, Vamp~Child (11)
A book of love and an anorexic teen, that teaches that we shouldn’t be ashamed of our bodies. It started out with four friends wanting to drop a few pounds, but turns chaotic when it makes them weak and unhealthy, which results in everyone but Beth to quit on their diet, while at the same time making Beth anorexic, because it seemed that it was the only thing she could control after her parents get divorced. But the care and love of her friends and family saves her. I would recommend this book to anyone who is uncomfortable about their body or has an eating disorder.
Vamp~Child
Adding my two cents worth-
I whole heartedly agree with Vamp~Child's review. I would like to add just a couple of thoughts. The voices in the book were so authentic, I felt like I was eavesdropping on real conversations. This is a terrific YA novel! I would recommend it for any tween or teen, facing an eating disorder or not. It is the love and friendship that saves us all.
Vamp~Child is going to use this for a class project.( I think the most telling thing is that she asked me if she could keep the book! )
We received this book from the author. Thanks Nicole!
A book of love and an anorexic teen, that teaches that we shouldn’t be ashamed of our bodies. It started out with four friends wanting to drop a few pounds, but turns chaotic when it makes them weak and unhealthy, which results in everyone but Beth to quit on their diet, while at the same time making Beth anorexic, because it seemed that it was the only thing she could control after her parents get divorced. But the care and love of her friends and family saves her. I would recommend this book to anyone who is uncomfortable about their body or has an eating disorder.
Vamp~Child
Adding my two cents worth-
I whole heartedly agree with Vamp~Child's review. I would like to add just a couple of thoughts. The voices in the book were so authentic, I felt like I was eavesdropping on real conversations. This is a terrific YA novel! I would recommend it for any tween or teen, facing an eating disorder or not. It is the love and friendship that saves us all.
Vamp~Child is going to use this for a class project.( I think the most telling thing is that she asked me if she could keep the book! )
We received this book from the author. Thanks Nicole!
September 3, 2009
Beth and her BFF’s - Rachel, Melanie and Jenny - make a pact to lose weight.. Nothing to drastic, just a couple of pounds. But what starts off as a goal of "a couple of pounds" quickly spins out of control leading Beth down a road that can be quite hazardous to her health.
The characters in this book were very real. The mind frame is definitely that of a teenaged girl. Their conversations and scenarios were exactly what you would encounter in any high school. I found it interesting that although on the outside Beth seemed like your average teenage girl (she has wonderful friends, a fantastic body, and her cute neighbor boy who likes her), yet there was so much turmoil going on inside her. It touched on a subject that affects a lot of today’s youth - anorexia. I think parents should definitely read this and have their young teen/tween daughters read this as well, especially if they are facing an eating disorder.
I enjoyed this quick read (only 170 pages) very much. Ms. Barker’s writing is simple and neat. Her characters are very realistic and likeable. It really makes you wonder about the pressures teens face today. This is definitely worth reading.
The characters in this book were very real. The mind frame is definitely that of a teenaged girl. Their conversations and scenarios were exactly what you would encounter in any high school. I found it interesting that although on the outside Beth seemed like your average teenage girl (she has wonderful friends, a fantastic body, and her cute neighbor boy who likes her), yet there was so much turmoil going on inside her. It touched on a subject that affects a lot of today’s youth - anorexia. I think parents should definitely read this and have their young teen/tween daughters read this as well, especially if they are facing an eating disorder.
I enjoyed this quick read (only 170 pages) very much. Ms. Barker’s writing is simple and neat. Her characters are very realistic and likeable. It really makes you wonder about the pressures teens face today. This is definitely worth reading.
August 13, 2009
Dancing With Ana is a fast paced book that deals with serious teenage matters. Beth on the surface seems like a well-put together girl. She has a good relationship with her mother, caring friends, and her best guy friend Jeremy has been in love with her for a long time. However, ever since Beth's father left them behind, she's been dealing with her pain by losing weight. At first, it was your typical diet but then, it turned into an obsession which caused her to purge. I thought the book was very intriguing but at times the writing was a bit amateur. However, the issues that the book presented could be relatable to a lot of teens or even adults that deal with the same problems on a daily basis. I mostly enjoyed the blooming relationship between Beth and Jeremy since I am a sucker for a happy ending. Overall, not a bad book.
Read
August 23, 2009Jenny is maturning into a lovely teenager. She is also highly attuned to the opinion of her peers. She notices that the other teenagers look up to the very thin Christine Mc Cady.
Jenny and her friends decide to go on a diet together.
Jeremy is Jenny's bud. They played together growing up but over the summer he grew thee inches and matured in other ways. Then while at the beach with Jenny one day, he gives her her first kiss.
The main topic of conversation between Jenny, Rachel and Beth is how much weight has been lost and what their goal is.
Their looks are their ultimate goal and boys are the main attraction.
A young adult story.
Jenny and her friends decide to go on a diet together.
Jeremy is Jenny's bud. They played together growing up but over the summer he grew thee inches and matured in other ways. Then while at the beach with Jenny one day, he gives her her first kiss.
The main topic of conversation between Jenny, Rachel and Beth is how much weight has been lost and what their goal is.
Their looks are their ultimate goal and boys are the main attraction.
A young adult story.
August 10, 2009
Beth and her three friends Jenny, Rachel, and Melanie decide to go on a diet together. They are your typical high school girls, interested in boys, looking pretty, and each with their own troubles as everyone has. The girls go in on a diet pact in order to give support to one another, and each one has a goal weight that she wants to achieve. Beth, the novel’s main character, first begins the diet with exercise and a minimal healthy diet. But soon into the diet, it becomes an obsession for her. The diet is then about more than just losing weight and being healthy, and Beth doesn’t know why she is doing it, only that she has to. Every morning when she discovers more weight lost, she feels triumphant. After the chaos of her family breaking apart, this is finally some measure of control restored to her.
Beth doesn’t stop when she reaches her target weight. Her mother has noticed something wrong, and her boyfriend/friend Jeremy sees the change in her as her clothing begins to hang off of her and her bones protrude. Despite his attempts to get her to open up about her diet, she won’t. Her three friends finally find happiness and drop out of the diet, but Beth can’t seem to stop. Instead of eating healthy and within proportion, she is starving herself to the point of passing out. Beth has no energy left, her skin is pale, and she is no longer happy. Beth is undoubtedly anorexic.
Anger and sadness trigger something in her that sets her off on a food binge. Naturally, her binge upsets her to the point where she engages in bulimia. As the book description says, Beth has every reason to be happy with her life, yet she is not. But we all know how teenagers are: every second is a second closer to the world ending for them. Some always fell prey to social pressures and expectations because they are so weighted and obvious.
This book was personal for me because I have struggled with an eating disorder for over half my life. I have been anorexic since I was a teenager, and I did it for no other reasons but pure vanity and a need to control something in my life. And I continue to do so. No, I am not proud of myself, I am only disclosing this to say that I understand what Beth and her friends go through. I certainly know what it is like to be a teenage girl succumbing to all of the pressures of that age. There is tremendous stress on teenage girls to look perfect, and perfect is hard to achieve. After a while, it takes you over. I applaud author Nicole Barker for taking on such a serious and sensitive topic. It’s not something a lot of people talk about. That Barker shows us the progression of eating disorder, how it can quickly get out of control, helps people understand that sometimes it’s not always rational. Sometimes you cannot apply logic and expect that to fix the problem. Through Beth, we see the humanity behind eating disorders, and as such they are more than, “oh no, that’s bad, you should stop.”
A lot of people see eating disorder as a cause-effect issue. And while there is a cause, sometimes it is so complex that it cannot be easily pinpointed and reasoned out. Therefore, it is hard to cure. Barker portrayed that accurately in giving Beth’s problem so much complication and depth. I don’t know if Barker herself has ever had a problem with anorexia, but she got a lot of the body issues and emotions involved correct. You do get weak, you do end up losing the energy that you once had, and you do end up getting depressed from lack of nutrition and body unhappiness. Of course, there are other things not experienced by Beth in the book that are true to anorexia. For example, you become very intolerant to the heat and to the cold, you get shaky, you start to breathe heavily when doing the smallest thing.
I very much enjoyed this quick read. The book is 170 pages, which means you can read it in one day if you have nothing else to do. Beth’s character is compelling and honest, and it really does reflect the difficulties of being a teenager girl. Barker captured the voice of youth nicely and convincingly.
Beth doesn’t stop when she reaches her target weight. Her mother has noticed something wrong, and her boyfriend/friend Jeremy sees the change in her as her clothing begins to hang off of her and her bones protrude. Despite his attempts to get her to open up about her diet, she won’t. Her three friends finally find happiness and drop out of the diet, but Beth can’t seem to stop. Instead of eating healthy and within proportion, she is starving herself to the point of passing out. Beth has no energy left, her skin is pale, and she is no longer happy. Beth is undoubtedly anorexic.
Anger and sadness trigger something in her that sets her off on a food binge. Naturally, her binge upsets her to the point where she engages in bulimia. As the book description says, Beth has every reason to be happy with her life, yet she is not. But we all know how teenagers are: every second is a second closer to the world ending for them. Some always fell prey to social pressures and expectations because they are so weighted and obvious.
This book was personal for me because I have struggled with an eating disorder for over half my life. I have been anorexic since I was a teenager, and I did it for no other reasons but pure vanity and a need to control something in my life. And I continue to do so. No, I am not proud of myself, I am only disclosing this to say that I understand what Beth and her friends go through. I certainly know what it is like to be a teenage girl succumbing to all of the pressures of that age. There is tremendous stress on teenage girls to look perfect, and perfect is hard to achieve. After a while, it takes you over. I applaud author Nicole Barker for taking on such a serious and sensitive topic. It’s not something a lot of people talk about. That Barker shows us the progression of eating disorder, how it can quickly get out of control, helps people understand that sometimes it’s not always rational. Sometimes you cannot apply logic and expect that to fix the problem. Through Beth, we see the humanity behind eating disorders, and as such they are more than, “oh no, that’s bad, you should stop.”
A lot of people see eating disorder as a cause-effect issue. And while there is a cause, sometimes it is so complex that it cannot be easily pinpointed and reasoned out. Therefore, it is hard to cure. Barker portrayed that accurately in giving Beth’s problem so much complication and depth. I don’t know if Barker herself has ever had a problem with anorexia, but she got a lot of the body issues and emotions involved correct. You do get weak, you do end up losing the energy that you once had, and you do end up getting depressed from lack of nutrition and body unhappiness. Of course, there are other things not experienced by Beth in the book that are true to anorexia. For example, you become very intolerant to the heat and to the cold, you get shaky, you start to breathe heavily when doing the smallest thing.
I very much enjoyed this quick read. The book is 170 pages, which means you can read it in one day if you have nothing else to do. Beth’s character is compelling and honest, and it really does reflect the difficulties of being a teenager girl. Barker captured the voice of youth nicely and convincingly.
August 8, 2009
Beth is a lucky girl…
She comes from a loving family. She has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she’s grown up with has the most amazing green eyes…
Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed.
Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?
Sixteen year old Beth Baxter’s life merely resembles the one she’s always known. Her father has left. She is falling for Jeremy Duscana and the diet she started has somehow turned into an obsession. Yet her three best friends remain the same, always there for her.
But even their love can’t save her from herself.
Dancing With Ana. A story about the journey to acceptance of one’s own reality, the incredible bond that exists between friends and a love that truly endures all things.
In Dancing With Ana, Nicole Barker has written a fine, sensitive book that looks at the very real issues young girls face. The peer pressure to be perfect, and unrealistic views of body image begin young, and are enforced by the media daily.
If you're an adult reading this, you'll find yourself looking back and remembering that one "perfect girl" in high school-the one you both revered and hated because try as you might,
you could never be quite as popular, or pretty.
Or maybe you were that "perfect girl"...but you had a secret...
From the website:dancingwithana.com
...Ana is definitely a character in the book…a main character. She is a strong force, a reliable friend found in despair, a manipulative enemy. You want to please her, earn her acceptance and admiration. You want her to go away, forever...
...Ana will take you away from your family, friends, life.
This is the truth. This is anorexia...
Although the genre of this book is Young Adult, I believe this is a story that should be read and shared by both parent and child.
This story begins with four friends who decide to go on a diet, but for one of them, it quickly spirals out of control.
Fueled by not just the desire to be thinner, but by a deep need to have some kind of order in her life,
Beth Baxter's unhappiness due to her parent's recent divorce, and feelings of rejection by her father is played out by her obsession with the one thing she has found that she can control-her weight.
Also touched upon is another issue of self-injury or self-mutilation.
Beth's friend Rachel has chosen this sad, seldom talked about, and self-destructive mechanism of coping to deal with the pain and anger of a neglectful, abusive home life. (I found myself really wanting a happy ending for Rachel and I hope that perhaps this subject will be explored more fully by Mrs. Barker in another book.)
In summary I believe that this is an excellent book to be read,shared, and discussed by teens and their parents, and educators as well. I'd like to thank the author herself for sending me this review copy. To learn more about this book, please check out her website
dancingwithana.com.
About the author:
Nicole Barker grew up in Portland, Oregon and attended Southern Oregon State College in the town of Ashland.
Nestled in the foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains, Nicole took to writing while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities with a strong emphasis on early childhood development.
Shortly after graduation, she spent several months traveling around the United States and parts of Canada.
Nicole now lives in south Florida with her husband, two kids, two dogs, toads,
frogs, hermit crabs and fish. She is currently working on her second YA book.
February 15, 2010
Original review posted here: http://thebookpixie.blogspot.com/2010...
Review
Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. Eventually there was going to be that book that was going to throw off my great reading streak and I'm sad to say Dancing with Ana just happened to be it. Don't get me wrong, it was...good...but it had the potential to be so much better.
In general the characters and their personalities were likable however it was in their development where the problem lay for me. Within the first 20 pages the girls have already decided to start a 'diet' and Beth and Jeremy have discovered their feelings for one another. Another thing that annoyed me was that these girls were at healthy weights already. Yes, I know in real life this tends to be the case but there was something about the way they decided to diet that seemed forced. Now with Beth and Rachel, they have other crappy stuff going on in their lives and as the book went on everything did become more realistic and understandable. It was mainly how quickly everything started that annoyed me. Also, though I cared for the characters and what happened to them, I didn't really feel connected to them.
The idea of Dancing with Ana was a great one but once again, I run into the same problems with the story as I did the characters. It all just seemed to develop way too quickly. I read this book and kept thinking that all these events could have easily been spread across a months time instead of just two weeks. This is something that could have easily been fixed by making the book longer. Aside from my issues with the development, I actually did enjoy the story a fair amount. There was a certain element of suspense that kept me wondering what would happen next to Beth. How far would she take things? And then there was something else that made me like this book that I just can't seem to put my finger on.
The writing was just okay for me. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. One thing that particularly grated on my nerves was the over usage of exclamation points when the sentence(s) really could have been satisfied with a simple period. Another thing, and maybe my copy of this book is just a fluke, but there was something totally hinky going on with the spacing, which could at times disrupt my flow of reading.
Everyone loves a good ole fashioned happy ending, however there comes a time when you have to think about what is realistic. The ending for Dancing with Ana was just too fairy-tale-happily-ever-after for me. It wasn't in the least bit practical. When a story starts with four girls deciding to go on a diet, three of which continue it, and two of which have other destructive issues going on in their lives, you just can't end it with all problems being resolved and each girl ending up with near too good to be true guys and expect it to sound believable. Trust me, things just don't end that way in real life.
In the end, I think this book could have been great had it simply been longer and been given a more appropriate ending and with better writing it could have been amazing. But it wasn't. I still think there are some good lessons to be learned from this book and I liked it well enough so I would recommend it. Just not very highly. Will I re-read it, maybe but not likely. I do hope that if this is a book you had been wanting to read, that you will look at other reviews because I've noticed many people have really liked this book.
Review
Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. Eventually there was going to be that book that was going to throw off my great reading streak and I'm sad to say Dancing with Ana just happened to be it. Don't get me wrong, it was...good...but it had the potential to be so much better.
In general the characters and their personalities were likable however it was in their development where the problem lay for me. Within the first 20 pages the girls have already decided to start a 'diet' and Beth and Jeremy have discovered their feelings for one another. Another thing that annoyed me was that these girls were at healthy weights already. Yes, I know in real life this tends to be the case but there was something about the way they decided to diet that seemed forced. Now with Beth and Rachel, they have other crappy stuff going on in their lives and as the book went on everything did become more realistic and understandable. It was mainly how quickly everything started that annoyed me. Also, though I cared for the characters and what happened to them, I didn't really feel connected to them.
The idea of Dancing with Ana was a great one but once again, I run into the same problems with the story as I did the characters. It all just seemed to develop way too quickly. I read this book and kept thinking that all these events could have easily been spread across a months time instead of just two weeks. This is something that could have easily been fixed by making the book longer. Aside from my issues with the development, I actually did enjoy the story a fair amount. There was a certain element of suspense that kept me wondering what would happen next to Beth. How far would she take things? And then there was something else that made me like this book that I just can't seem to put my finger on.
The writing was just okay for me. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. One thing that particularly grated on my nerves was the over usage of exclamation points when the sentence(s) really could have been satisfied with a simple period. Another thing, and maybe my copy of this book is just a fluke, but there was something totally hinky going on with the spacing, which could at times disrupt my flow of reading.
Everyone loves a good ole fashioned happy ending, however there comes a time when you have to think about what is realistic. The ending for Dancing with Ana was just too fairy-tale-happily-ever-after for me. It wasn't in the least bit practical. When a story starts with four girls deciding to go on a diet, three of which continue it, and two of which have other destructive issues going on in their lives, you just can't end it with all problems being resolved and each girl ending up with near too good to be true guys and expect it to sound believable. Trust me, things just don't end that way in real life.
In the end, I think this book could have been great had it simply been longer and been given a more appropriate ending and with better writing it could have been amazing. But it wasn't. I still think there are some good lessons to be learned from this book and I liked it well enough so I would recommend it. Just not very highly. Will I re-read it, maybe but not likely. I do hope that if this is a book you had been wanting to read, that you will look at other reviews because I've noticed many people have really liked this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2009
Mini Synopsis:
This slim book is a story about a group of high school teenagers whom in an attempt to be more like the “prettiest” girl in school, who is very thin, go on a group diet. Two of the girls in particular with abandonment issues have unhealthy responses and take their distress to an extreme and use anorexia/bulimia and self injury as coping mechanisms – acronyms Ana, Mia, and SI.
My Thoughts:
Anorexia and SI are painful subjects for me. I have a beautiful sister whom has “body image issues”. As a teen she dieted extensively, only eating salads and drinking large quantities of carrot juice until she was very thin and turned carrot orange on the soles of her feet and palms. We all assumed that this was due to an overdose of beta-carotene. The issues continue even now into her 40’s with different manifestations. Although humorous for me on a certain level - as a teenager watching my sister turn orange, it is a serious issue. This particular example helps one to understand the obsession surrounding being thin for some girls. Even more disturbing, I have a close family member whom has been using “cutting” as an emotional coping mechanism. It is very disturbing when someone you love uses these unhealthy means to deal with their emotions or to try and fit into an unhealthy model of beauty.
When reading this book, I could imagine young girls, and teens relating to the life issues which surround the main character and her friends. The story line and emotions felt real and normal within the text. This is important because it is young people the book needs to reach. Conversely, I found it frustrating and became annoyed when there was no mention of a character named Ana in the text since the title is Dancing with Ana. (Silly me.) It took some thought to figure out that Ana is a “code” young women use to address this issue and a means to keep it secret.
Consequently, through my search about these subjects I found there is a “cultish” behavior surrounding them. I have included links here to sites that may be of interest to parents, teachers, caretakers, and girls themselves to become aware of these scary actions. Sadly, in real life things don’t always end happily and healthily as the author has depicted in her book.
That this book could be used as means for important conversations and that it is very relevant in my life is the reason why I have given it 4 stars. We cannot prevent children from being subjected to these issues which are a part of growing up in today's world so guiding them is the key and perhaps this book can be a catalyst.
Links for Ana: Pro-Ana Wikipedia definition ; Proanamia ; Pro-ana-nation ; House of Thin
Links for SI:Wikipedia Self-injury definition ; Selfinjury.com ; helpguide.org ; self help magazine.com
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2009
Life suppose to be good for Beth and her three best friends - Rachel, Melanie and Jenny, but deep in their hearts they knew they would have more confidence and feel happier if they could look like fellow schoolmate, Christine McCady as she is beautiful and has a perfect figure. So they came up with a plan: they would starve themselves to make them look good.
In the beginning, the girls are very determined with the plan and they supported one another but after a while, all the girls dropped out of the diet plan after they got sidetracked by other stuff except Beth. To make things worse, Beth is coping with his parents' separation after Beth's father has left the family for a younger administrative staff in his company. She felt betrayed but most of all, she is angry that her father did not make the time and effort in visiting them. No one knew her misery except Jeremy, a boy whom she knew since young. Jeremy likes her but he is unsure of her feelings towards him, while on the other side Beth is confused over her relationship with Jeremy because she is attracted to her best friend for the first time.
Beth later became more obsessed over her weight and she starved herself further despite she has lost some weight and is starting to feel unwell due to the extreme measures she took. Jeremy began to see the change in her but is it too late to stop Beth? And most importantly, is Beth willing to help herself and accept for who she is?
Dancing with Ana is a book about friendship and issues which teenagers are facing today - anorexia and self-mutilation, and I think this book is not only a must-read for all teenagers (especially teenaged girls) but to parents as well. As we know, the media often link beauty with models with a perfect body and this has led many young girls (and/or women) thinking that one is beautiful if she has a thin body, which is not the case. In Beth's case, I viewed it that though she is secretly hoping to be like Christine, her other reason for starving herself is her way of coping the stress and venting her frustration and annoyance due to her father's negligence towards them. I could feel her loneliness and helplessness and I wished she had talked to someone else regarding her problems earlier.
Self-multilation is another issue which we should be concerned about and in this story, one of Beth's friends, Rachel, has this saddening experience due to her family problem and though I read about her happy relationship with her boyfriend towards the end, there is not much mention of the relationship with her mother and whether or not if their problem are resolved. As this story focus more on Beth, perhaps this is the reason why there are little explanations on the other characters but I just could not help wondering about them.
Nicole Barker has written a great thought-provoking story about friendship, despair and acceptance, and I hope this book would help the young adults to understand more about anorexia and self-multilation and hopefully they would get the message that these would not only affect and cause misery to themselves but to the loved ones around them.
In the beginning, the girls are very determined with the plan and they supported one another but after a while, all the girls dropped out of the diet plan after they got sidetracked by other stuff except Beth. To make things worse, Beth is coping with his parents' separation after Beth's father has left the family for a younger administrative staff in his company. She felt betrayed but most of all, she is angry that her father did not make the time and effort in visiting them. No one knew her misery except Jeremy, a boy whom she knew since young. Jeremy likes her but he is unsure of her feelings towards him, while on the other side Beth is confused over her relationship with Jeremy because she is attracted to her best friend for the first time.
Beth later became more obsessed over her weight and she starved herself further despite she has lost some weight and is starting to feel unwell due to the extreme measures she took. Jeremy began to see the change in her but is it too late to stop Beth? And most importantly, is Beth willing to help herself and accept for who she is?
Dancing with Ana is a book about friendship and issues which teenagers are facing today - anorexia and self-mutilation, and I think this book is not only a must-read for all teenagers (especially teenaged girls) but to parents as well. As we know, the media often link beauty with models with a perfect body and this has led many young girls (and/or women) thinking that one is beautiful if she has a thin body, which is not the case. In Beth's case, I viewed it that though she is secretly hoping to be like Christine, her other reason for starving herself is her way of coping the stress and venting her frustration and annoyance due to her father's negligence towards them. I could feel her loneliness and helplessness and I wished she had talked to someone else regarding her problems earlier.
Self-multilation is another issue which we should be concerned about and in this story, one of Beth's friends, Rachel, has this saddening experience due to her family problem and though I read about her happy relationship with her boyfriend towards the end, there is not much mention of the relationship with her mother and whether or not if their problem are resolved. As this story focus more on Beth, perhaps this is the reason why there are little explanations on the other characters but I just could not help wondering about them.
Nicole Barker has written a great thought-provoking story about friendship, despair and acceptance, and I hope this book would help the young adults to understand more about anorexia and self-multilation and hopefully they would get the message that these would not only affect and cause misery to themselves but to the loved ones around them.
September 18, 2009
I had never experimented with YA genre so far coz I felt it's just not my type and wouldn't hold my interest for long enough to finish reading the entire book. But when Nicole Barker mailed me asking if I would be interested in reviewing this one, I just jumped at it and agreed! The short synopsis and the cover page were enough to draw my attention to this one and I was surprised that I absolutely loved the book and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
The book is about 16 year old Beth, who is a smart girl and lucky enough to have a pretty much 'perfect life'. She has 3 great friends Rachel, Melanie and Jenny and her childhood buddy Jeremy. At the surface it seems like she leads a perfectly normal life with surfing, running, hanging out with friends, partying, school etc. But her inside world is completely in contrast with this about which hardly anyone knows. She is quite unhappy within and is in a constant struggle to come to terms with her parents' divorce which is probably why she is striving to behave different assuming that would help her accept this change and deal with it..
I absolutely loved the way each character is carved so well in the story, especially Beth and Jeremy. The innocent love that develops between Beth and Jeremey was extremely heart warming. It was very well developed and realistic, something each one of us can identify with and wish we could have someone offer such pure, selfless, unconditional love...It really touched me and I loved reading this part. I am way past that age but I could still relate to the strong feelings and emtions which Beth went through..
The book has a very fast pace which worked well for me. I would probably have lost interest if it was too long drawn. Though short, the story was well detailed and does create a depth of emotions in the reader. The short and sweet part of it kept me hooked on and when I finished, it left me craving for a bit more! If you are a regular YA reader, you might not be too happy with the timespan and how fast the things progress.....
I was quite curious to know about the title "Dancing with Ana" becoz Ana was not one of the characters in the book. I did a lot of google search and found in one of the reviews which had an explanation to this and it really intrigued me! "Ana is the short name of Anorexia Nervosa, the very disorder that Beth falls prey to. As of the dancing, there is both a figurative side to it (the way Beth 'toyed' with her unhealthy diet taking 2 steps forward and very rarely, one step back), but there is also a literal dance - in the way she danced her heart out at the end of the book. Dancing away her pain, sadness, anger, frustration and disappointement. The way she released her demons to the sky"
Recommended to teenage girls or people who still want to relive their teen years :)
The book is about 16 year old Beth, who is a smart girl and lucky enough to have a pretty much 'perfect life'. She has 3 great friends Rachel, Melanie and Jenny and her childhood buddy Jeremy. At the surface it seems like she leads a perfectly normal life with surfing, running, hanging out with friends, partying, school etc. But her inside world is completely in contrast with this about which hardly anyone knows. She is quite unhappy within and is in a constant struggle to come to terms with her parents' divorce which is probably why she is striving to behave different assuming that would help her accept this change and deal with it..
I absolutely loved the way each character is carved so well in the story, especially Beth and Jeremy. The innocent love that develops between Beth and Jeremey was extremely heart warming. It was very well developed and realistic, something each one of us can identify with and wish we could have someone offer such pure, selfless, unconditional love...It really touched me and I loved reading this part. I am way past that age but I could still relate to the strong feelings and emtions which Beth went through..
The book has a very fast pace which worked well for me. I would probably have lost interest if it was too long drawn. Though short, the story was well detailed and does create a depth of emotions in the reader. The short and sweet part of it kept me hooked on and when I finished, it left me craving for a bit more! If you are a regular YA reader, you might not be too happy with the timespan and how fast the things progress.....
I was quite curious to know about the title "Dancing with Ana" becoz Ana was not one of the characters in the book. I did a lot of google search and found in one of the reviews which had an explanation to this and it really intrigued me! "Ana is the short name of Anorexia Nervosa, the very disorder that Beth falls prey to. As of the dancing, there is both a figurative side to it (the way Beth 'toyed' with her unhealthy diet taking 2 steps forward and very rarely, one step back), but there is also a literal dance - in the way she danced her heart out at the end of the book. Dancing away her pain, sadness, anger, frustration and disappointement. The way she released her demons to the sky"
Recommended to teenage girls or people who still want to relive their teen years :)
October 5, 2009
It wouldn't be an exaggeration for me to say that I deal with teenagers everyday. My younger sister is sixteen, just entering eleventh grade and has a large passel of friends that I've seen grow up for the last decade. Almost every day brings a new phone call or text message from my sister (and on occasion her friends) asking my advice, or venting or just needing someone to talk to. Its the burden of an older sibling at times. So please believe me when I say, the issues that Beth (and her friends) deal with in Dancing With Ana are terrifyingly realistic.
The need to fit in, the need to be attractive, the need to be noticed and recognized, these are all feelings that are a by product of our culture. From a fairly young age kids are taught that the unusual rarely makes it to the top. Exceptions are made, but why would you want to risk that? Fit in. So it wasn't surprising to me when Beth, Melanie, Rachel and Jenny lament that they aren't as pretty and thin as Christine, a popular classmate. Christine fit the mold for the 'perfect' teenager (at least superficially).
Couple that with Beth's emotional tribulations (first love, her father leaving, pressures of being a teenager) I understood why she felt a need to control something, anything, in her life. Its easy for me to say 'I never dealt with that' because I was an isolationist in middle school and high school, preferring to remain as far away from that world as possible because I knew, somewhere in my heart, that if I fell in I would fall hard and badly. There is no 'middle ground' in my world. In Beth's world, she has no middle ground either.
Barker embarks upon the topic with a lot of sensitivity and heartfelt dialogue. She doesn't merely allow Beth's condition to be blamed on wanting to be thin and popular, nor does she allow Beth to receive the sort of attention she thought she wanted. We gradually see Beth's personality change as she throws up more often, the reaction of those around her and the effect it had on her life. In the end there is no perfect sitcom ending where Beth realizes her mistakes after a heart to heart and promises to do better. Beth recognizes that she has a problem, she needs to deal with it and she needs to understand why she had one to begin with.
I felt the most telling moment was this part:
"You gonna stand there all day?"
She didn't turn around, she knew that voice. "No, I was waiting for your sorry ass! What took so long?"
Jeremy smile. It was good to have her back.
(pg 168, Dancing with Ana)
That to me spoke volumes and resonated with my feelings.
I think this is a book that teen girls and young adults and women of any age should read. Its not just about one girl's fight with anorexia, its about a girl's fight to re-find herself and define herself.
The need to fit in, the need to be attractive, the need to be noticed and recognized, these are all feelings that are a by product of our culture. From a fairly young age kids are taught that the unusual rarely makes it to the top. Exceptions are made, but why would you want to risk that? Fit in. So it wasn't surprising to me when Beth, Melanie, Rachel and Jenny lament that they aren't as pretty and thin as Christine, a popular classmate. Christine fit the mold for the 'perfect' teenager (at least superficially).
Couple that with Beth's emotional tribulations (first love, her father leaving, pressures of being a teenager) I understood why she felt a need to control something, anything, in her life. Its easy for me to say 'I never dealt with that' because I was an isolationist in middle school and high school, preferring to remain as far away from that world as possible because I knew, somewhere in my heart, that if I fell in I would fall hard and badly. There is no 'middle ground' in my world. In Beth's world, she has no middle ground either.
Barker embarks upon the topic with a lot of sensitivity and heartfelt dialogue. She doesn't merely allow Beth's condition to be blamed on wanting to be thin and popular, nor does she allow Beth to receive the sort of attention she thought she wanted. We gradually see Beth's personality change as she throws up more often, the reaction of those around her and the effect it had on her life. In the end there is no perfect sitcom ending where Beth realizes her mistakes after a heart to heart and promises to do better. Beth recognizes that she has a problem, she needs to deal with it and she needs to understand why she had one to begin with.
I felt the most telling moment was this part:
"You gonna stand there all day?"
She didn't turn around, she knew that voice. "No, I was waiting for your sorry ass! What took so long?"
Jeremy smile. It was good to have her back.
(pg 168, Dancing with Ana)
That to me spoke volumes and resonated with my feelings.
I think this is a book that teen girls and young adults and women of any age should read. Its not just about one girl's fight with anorexia, its about a girl's fight to re-find herself and define herself.
August 9, 2009
Four sixteen-year-old friends, Beth, Jenny, Rachel and Melanie are struggling to find out who they are as young women. And they’re also struggling with the fact that there’s always going to be someone skinnier, someone prettier, someone with better hair, the list can go on and on. But for Beth, life is going especially tough for her and she hasn’t even really realized it yet. Her father has left their family for a younger woman, she’s falling in love with her best friend, and she is determined to get down to her “target” weight of 110 pounds. She’s so determined that she has enlisted the help of her closest friends to diet together. But their diets are dangerous – they’re hardly eating. The horrible headaches and dizziness finally makes Beth’s friends realize that they have no business dieting like they’re doing. But Beth is determined. However, when she hits 110 pounds, she realizes that she’s not as happy as she had expected to be. In fact, she’s actually even more depressed. But as she keeps going, her friends and new boyfriend are finally able to step in and help her realize that she doesn’t need to do all this dieting in order to be pretty and happy.
I’m going to include a small selection from page 164 that really highlights what has been going on with Beth. The first girl talking in this blurb is Christine, McCady, the most popular girl in school.
She paused at the door. “By the way, love what you’ve done with yourself. Ten more pounds and you’ll be super hot!”
And she was gone.
Beth looked at herself in the mirror, and for the first time, saw the dark smudges under her eyes. Her hair hung loose, laying flat against her head. Her skin was very pale. Hesitantly, she lifted her oversized t-shirt, exposing her stomach. All of her ribs showed, and her stomach was sunken in. For the first time, she saw how frail her arms looked.
She also finally saw how she’d chosen to deal with her father’s abandonment … by destroying herself.
I was contacted directly by the author, Nicole Barker, to read and review this book. I received it in the mail yesterday and sat down with it last night and read it in one sitting. It was that good. I could really relate with Beth’s character; I was a milder version of her my junior year in high school. Barker’s descriptions of the new love that all four of the girls finally began to experience reminded me of those first few months of young love with my husband when we were in high school. I find it kind of ironic that at the age of 24 I find myself enjoying YA reads, whereas when I was 15 or 16 and should have read a book like this I wanted no part of them. I honestly believe that women of all ages could really relate to the girls in this story, I highly recommend this book to everyone.
I’m going to include a small selection from page 164 that really highlights what has been going on with Beth. The first girl talking in this blurb is Christine, McCady, the most popular girl in school.
She paused at the door. “By the way, love what you’ve done with yourself. Ten more pounds and you’ll be super hot!”
And she was gone.
Beth looked at herself in the mirror, and for the first time, saw the dark smudges under her eyes. Her hair hung loose, laying flat against her head. Her skin was very pale. Hesitantly, she lifted her oversized t-shirt, exposing her stomach. All of her ribs showed, and her stomach was sunken in. For the first time, she saw how frail her arms looked.
She also finally saw how she’d chosen to deal with her father’s abandonment … by destroying herself.
I was contacted directly by the author, Nicole Barker, to read and review this book. I received it in the mail yesterday and sat down with it last night and read it in one sitting. It was that good. I could really relate with Beth’s character; I was a milder version of her my junior year in high school. Barker’s descriptions of the new love that all four of the girls finally began to experience reminded me of those first few months of young love with my husband when we were in high school. I find it kind of ironic that at the age of 24 I find myself enjoying YA reads, whereas when I was 15 or 16 and should have read a book like this I wanted no part of them. I honestly believe that women of all ages could really relate to the girls in this story, I highly recommend this book to everyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2011
I do not give one-star reviews lightly. I decided to read this because it had so many positive reviews, but it took about, umm, a page and a half for me to start wondering what I'd gotten myself into, and I barely made it past that terrible text-message exchange. (Technically, I didn't make it past that; I had to put the book down for a few months until I felt strong enough to make it all the way through.) In retrospect, that probably is pretty close to how immature teenagers text each other, but it does not belong in a published book.
So what else did I get myself into? punctuation woes, painful dialogue, and whiplash-inducing POV switches. Superficial plot in which the characters' problems are easily, and improbably, resolved. One-dimensional characters. A very unhealthy two-week diet that is portrayed, from the very beginning, as an eating disorder. (I'm not discounting the fact that dieting can trigger eating disorders, potentially very quickly. I'm also not in any way suggesting that what the characters were doing is healthy. My issue here is that Beth's problem begins and is resolved within a two- or three-week window. Granted, I don't think the book actually goes so far as to say that Beth has an eating disorder -- and I could see the situation being described as disordered eating -- but what else do you expect when the back cover asks "why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?"?) I'm not even going to get into how Rachel "resolves" her problem (useless caricature of mother, mother's creepy boyfriends) by saying, effectively,
Please, for the love of good writing, read something else. If you're hell-bent on reading ED fiction, try Leaving Jetty Road or Feeling For Bones or Wintergirls or something.
I know this is a very negative review, and I wish I had better things to say... Let's see what I can come up with:
-I appreciate what the author was trying to do. Good for her for writing a book.
-In another context, Rachel probably could have been an interesting character.
-The book was very short.
So what else did I get myself into? punctuation woes, painful dialogue, and whiplash-inducing POV switches. Superficial plot in which the characters' problems are easily, and improbably, resolved. One-dimensional characters. A very unhealthy two-week diet that is portrayed, from the very beginning, as an eating disorder. (I'm not discounting the fact that dieting can trigger eating disorders, potentially very quickly. I'm also not in any way suggesting that what the characters were doing is healthy. My issue here is that Beth's problem begins and is resolved within a two- or three-week window. Granted, I don't think the book actually goes so far as to say that Beth has an eating disorder -- and I could see the situation being described as disordered eating -- but what else do you expect when the back cover asks "why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?"?) I'm not even going to get into how Rachel "resolves" her problem (useless caricature of mother, mother's creepy boyfriends) by saying, effectively,
Please, for the love of good writing, read something else. If you're hell-bent on reading ED fiction, try Leaving Jetty Road or Feeling For Bones or Wintergirls or something.
I know this is a very negative review, and I wish I had better things to say... Let's see what I can come up with:
-I appreciate what the author was trying to do. Good for her for writing a book.
-In another context, Rachel probably could have been an interesting character.
-The book was very short.
August 11, 2009
Beth’s life is perfect. She has what every high school girl wants: great friends, a great body, and a cute boy who likes her…except that it’s only on the surface. Underneath everything her life is a mess. Her parents are divorced and the loss of her father is eating at her slowly. She begins to not enjoy the things that she used to and becomes fixated on losing weight. Everyone around her is worried about her. Will she be able to regain control of her life or will it continue to spin out of control?
Beth’s story is one that is poignant for many young girls in today’s society. Divorce and weight issues are common scenarios. While this story could have easily fallen into clichéd territory, Nicole Barker does a phenomenal job at creating stories and characters that you care about. By the second chapter I was absorbed in Beth’s story and couldn’t wait to read what would happen next. Her characters are very real. They not only have real problems, but they react in real ways. Being a few years out of high-school myself, I could still relate to the problems Beth and her friends were facing. The way this story is written I think that anyone of any age can relate and enjoy it.
This book would be a perfect book for any teen girl to read; it’s hard being a teen today. Issues of self image, self-mutilation, peer pressure, divorce, and relationships are all approached in this story in a way that is sensitive but without feeling patronizing and preachy. It really illustrates how quickly something can spiral out of control and how hard it can be to climb back out of that hole. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though.
This was a quick and awesome read. I would highly recommend this read. Don’t brush it off because it is a young adult novel.
This book was received for review from the author - I was not compensated for my opinions and the above is my honest review.
Beth’s story is one that is poignant for many young girls in today’s society. Divorce and weight issues are common scenarios. While this story could have easily fallen into clichéd territory, Nicole Barker does a phenomenal job at creating stories and characters that you care about. By the second chapter I was absorbed in Beth’s story and couldn’t wait to read what would happen next. Her characters are very real. They not only have real problems, but they react in real ways. Being a few years out of high-school myself, I could still relate to the problems Beth and her friends were facing. The way this story is written I think that anyone of any age can relate and enjoy it.
This book would be a perfect book for any teen girl to read; it’s hard being a teen today. Issues of self image, self-mutilation, peer pressure, divorce, and relationships are all approached in this story in a way that is sensitive but without feeling patronizing and preachy. It really illustrates how quickly something can spiral out of control and how hard it can be to climb back out of that hole. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though.
This was a quick and awesome read. I would highly recommend this read. Don’t brush it off because it is a young adult novel.
This book was received for review from the author - I was not compensated for my opinions and the above is my honest review.
August 18, 2009
This book is about a group of teen girls who decide they should go on a diet and get to their ideal weight. They use the Internet to find the weight range medical professionals believe is healthy and they aim for the lowest number on the chart for each of their heights.
Most of the girls have other things going on in their lives that make things hectic. One girl is dealing with the recent divorce of her parents and the subsequent lack of a father figure in her life. Another of the girls is the product of a single mother home, which in many cases can be fine. But not for this girl, her mother is less than fit for the job of parent. During all of this commotion, Beth has just realized the boy she grew up with, is totally hot and her relationship with him starts to sizzle.
I am such a negative Nelly, I expect every book I read to suck. I began Dancing with Ana, skeptical. The beginning was slow to get through and I was having a difficult time with the narrator's omniscience., wonder who was thinking what or why this character was think now. As the book went on the writing improved ten-fold and I began to really get intrigued in the things happening with Beth and her friends. This was one of the most honest teen books I have read this year. In the plethora of paranormal teen romance Barker shines as something new and different. Barker was really able to relate with her characters and her writing showed how teens emotions can ebb and way.
One question I would love to know the answer to is, why is the book titled Dancing with Ana? I am sorry but I really dislike the cover. If it wasn't for the catchy synopsis I would have never picked up this book.
Who would like this book? I think this book would be great for teens, it really shows that they are not alone in their string of emotions and the different ways people find to express those emotions.
Most of the girls have other things going on in their lives that make things hectic. One girl is dealing with the recent divorce of her parents and the subsequent lack of a father figure in her life. Another of the girls is the product of a single mother home, which in many cases can be fine. But not for this girl, her mother is less than fit for the job of parent. During all of this commotion, Beth has just realized the boy she grew up with, is totally hot and her relationship with him starts to sizzle.
I am such a negative Nelly, I expect every book I read to suck. I began Dancing with Ana, skeptical. The beginning was slow to get through and I was having a difficult time with the narrator's omniscience., wonder who was thinking what or why this character was think now. As the book went on the writing improved ten-fold and I began to really get intrigued in the things happening with Beth and her friends. This was one of the most honest teen books I have read this year. In the plethora of paranormal teen romance Barker shines as something new and different. Barker was really able to relate with her characters and her writing showed how teens emotions can ebb and way.
One question I would love to know the answer to is, why is the book titled Dancing with Ana? I am sorry but I really dislike the cover. If it wasn't for the catchy synopsis I would have never picked up this book.
Who would like this book? I think this book would be great for teens, it really shows that they are not alone in their string of emotions and the different ways people find to express those emotions.
October 29, 2009
This is the story of four teenage best friends who decide the way to happiness and popularity is paved by losing weight. They decide to restrict their food intake eating only a pieces of fruit and water at meals. Two of the four girls have deep seated reasons, other than popularity for losing weight. Beth has issues with her Dad and Rachael has issues with her Mom. Jenny is the best friend who will do anything to support her friends and Melanie is the "Mom" of the group.
Although it is a short book, their reasons for unhappiness are laid out pretty well and I completely empathized with Beth and Rachael. The thoughts and feelings of these two girls are so sad and desperate...they broke my heart. If they only knew how foolish they are, but that is one of the sobering truths of anorexia and being a teenage girl. You don't know any better. People who suffer from anorexia see themselves differently and tie their self worth to their distorted vision.
My only complaint with this book was Beth's burgeoning sexuality. It came out of left field and I though it was gratuitous. It did not enhance the story and could have been left out. I know she wants to be loved and accepted, but there must be a better way of getting that across to the reader.
Overall it was a quick read, starting out sad and ending hopeful. Not all anorexia stories end happily, but if this book gets people talking about this disease...then it's a win/win. I think parents would probably benefit from reading this book also. It's not always easy to see your children are hurting emotionally and physically.
My Rating: 93/100
I got sucked into these girls' lives and emotions right away. I could totally see shades of these girls in my friends from back in the day.
(I was always the MOM of the group.)
Although it is a short book, their reasons for unhappiness are laid out pretty well and I completely empathized with Beth and Rachael. The thoughts and feelings of these two girls are so sad and desperate...they broke my heart. If they only knew how foolish they are, but that is one of the sobering truths of anorexia and being a teenage girl. You don't know any better. People who suffer from anorexia see themselves differently and tie their self worth to their distorted vision.
My only complaint with this book was Beth's burgeoning sexuality. It came out of left field and I though it was gratuitous. It did not enhance the story and could have been left out. I know she wants to be loved and accepted, but there must be a better way of getting that across to the reader.
Overall it was a quick read, starting out sad and ending hopeful. Not all anorexia stories end happily, but if this book gets people talking about this disease...then it's a win/win. I think parents would probably benefit from reading this book also. It's not always easy to see your children are hurting emotionally and physically.
My Rating: 93/100
I got sucked into these girls' lives and emotions right away. I could totally see shades of these girls in my friends from back in the day.
(I was always the MOM of the group.)
February 2, 2013
This is a quick and enjoyable book that deals with teen issues, such as weight problems, anorexia, and divorce. Beth is a typical teenager, but inside she is suffering from her parents divorce, and the distance that is growing between her and her father. Instead of talking about it, she closes up and does not tell her three best friends what's going on emotionally inside her.
When the four best friends begin to diet to lose a few pounds, Beth finds herself unhappy when she finally reaches her goal and the diet soon escalates dangerously and she doesn't know how to change the situation she's in or what's causing it. The people who love her begin to help her, by showing her support and she learns to deal with the pain differently and soon begins to eat again.
This story, although good, was too short to satisfy me. I do not think that all the events that took place in the book could happen over three weeks. Realistically, it would have taken a few months for all this to take place, and maybe the author could have made the book a bit longer.
Another thing that I didn't like too much was the ending. The book is only 170 pages long and with about twenty pages left, the author added a solution to everyone's problem and a happily ever after, which to me seemed a little forced. There definitely should have been more pages to make the conclusion more realistic than what it was.
I think this was a good book, that talked about many problems teens today face. The characters are detailed well, and you feel like you know them, but a little more length would have helped bunches. I also thought the title of this book was great, I loved it, especially after reading this.
When the four best friends begin to diet to lose a few pounds, Beth finds herself unhappy when she finally reaches her goal and the diet soon escalates dangerously and she doesn't know how to change the situation she's in or what's causing it. The people who love her begin to help her, by showing her support and she learns to deal with the pain differently and soon begins to eat again.
This story, although good, was too short to satisfy me. I do not think that all the events that took place in the book could happen over three weeks. Realistically, it would have taken a few months for all this to take place, and maybe the author could have made the book a bit longer.
Another thing that I didn't like too much was the ending. The book is only 170 pages long and with about twenty pages left, the author added a solution to everyone's problem and a happily ever after, which to me seemed a little forced. There definitely should have been more pages to make the conclusion more realistic than what it was.
I think this was a good book, that talked about many problems teens today face. The characters are detailed well, and you feel like you know them, but a little more length would have helped bunches. I also thought the title of this book was great, I loved it, especially after reading this.
September 30, 2009
I was so excited to see this book in my mailbox! Ah I was jumping up and down when I got it! Anyway the book was very good. This novel mainly about a girl named Beth. She has the perfect life, well sort of. She has family and friends that love her, she’s athletic and loves to run and surf, and now she finally has noticed that cute boy down the street, who has been her best friend all these years. The book is told in a third person point of view, told from everyone’s perspective. It gives you a glimpse as to why and how anorexia effects Beth’s three best friends, her new boyfriend, as well as her family. As I began to read the novel, it felt as if I was in high school once again. The “popular and beautiful” girls were the skinny ones, while everyone else longed to be them. As the novel progresses you can see how this “diet” the girls are on begins to affect them and put pressure on them. The character I could easily relate to was Beth. She’s a runner (which is always a big time plus in my book because I was a former XC runner), she has family issues, and she has three best friends (although mine are all guys). The struggles that each one of the girls faced, I saw back in high school and even now. Some in me, while there were other kids I saw them in. You can feel each and every one of the characters emotions, like when Beth’s father doesn’t pick them up; I felt her anger and sadness. The happy times, the sad ones and even the angry ones made this book a huge hit! Loved it! I give this book 4 out of 5 paws.
August 7, 2009
Dancing With Ana by Nicole Barker would definitely fall under the young adult category when being shelved at the bookstore, but I believe any parent of a teenage girl would benefit from reading this story of friendship, despair, love and acceptance. The story focuses on 16 year old Beth and her three best friends – Rachel, Jenny and Melanie. The girls have different personalities and come from different home lives but this seems to bring them closer together as each girl has a place in the group. Problems arise when the girls decide they need to lose “a few pounds” and start a severe diet to reach their goal weights. One of the girls may be taking it too the extreme. Will the devotion of her friends (and a great new boyfriend) help her before she goes too far?
I am a mother of a teenage daughter and I am constantly trying to put myself back in time to when I was a teen in an attempt to understand some of the things she is going and has gone through during this tumultuous time in her life. This story is a good reflection of teen friendship, love and disappointment. Teens think with their hearts instead of their brains. They fall in love in a split second, they are hurt by the smallest word or gesture, they internalize and personalize everything and life seems to move in fast forward. The book flowed like a teens day. Ms. Barker seems to have the knack of looking at life through a teenager’s eyes and heart.
I am a mother of a teenage daughter and I am constantly trying to put myself back in time to when I was a teen in an attempt to understand some of the things she is going and has gone through during this tumultuous time in her life. This story is a good reflection of teen friendship, love and disappointment. Teens think with their hearts instead of their brains. They fall in love in a split second, they are hurt by the smallest word or gesture, they internalize and personalize everything and life seems to move in fast forward. The book flowed like a teens day. Ms. Barker seems to have the knack of looking at life through a teenager’s eyes and heart.
August 22, 2009
Beth has four best friends, a mother who cares more attentively since her dad left them, and a quirky brother. Beth decides to go on a diet one day because she supposedly wants to look like the most popular girl in school, but is that really the reason she chooses to starve herself? And worry everyone who cares about her deeply? I think not. And if Beth looked a bit deeper into her conscience she would see it, too. However, with her own friends going through their own transitions, they still support Beth any way they can. Especially Jeremy. Sweet, wise Jeremy; the one who has been there for Beth through thick and thin. Will Jeremy's love and care be enough to stop Beth from destroying herself completely?
Of course, my favorite character has to be Jeremy because he does not give up hope on the people he loves most. If I looked at this quick-read and analyzed it personally, I would be sobbing right along with Beth because we are so alike when it comes to the parentals. Thing is, I didn't have a Jeremy and am quite jealous, lol. Albeit my father's worse but, no one deserves to be that traumatized. One day it's perfect, the next your left feeling like the memories will never be enough. I was a bit disappointed, because in the beginning it all seemed cliched to me. After a while, you kind of get into the rhythm of the plot line and the other characters' backgrounds start popping out. Recommended to all teens having parental issues and having their own way of dealing with it.
Of course, my favorite character has to be Jeremy because he does not give up hope on the people he loves most. If I looked at this quick-read and analyzed it personally, I would be sobbing right along with Beth because we are so alike when it comes to the parentals. Thing is, I didn't have a Jeremy and am quite jealous, lol. Albeit my father's worse but, no one deserves to be that traumatized. One day it's perfect, the next your left feeling like the memories will never be enough. I was a bit disappointed, because in the beginning it all seemed cliched to me. After a while, you kind of get into the rhythm of the plot line and the other characters' backgrounds start popping out. Recommended to all teens having parental issues and having their own way of dealing with it.
August 31, 2009
Melanie, Rachel, Jenny and Beth are good friends. They all attend the same high school. They were all sitting around during lunch commenting on Christine McCady and how great she looks. The girls are jealous and decide that they are going to all go on a diet.
Besides keeping busy with dieting and school, Beth has found herself occupied with a certain boy. Jeremy and Beth grew up together. Jeremy lives across the street. It wasn’t till recently when they both started to see each other as boy and girl an not just friends. Jeremy really likes Beth and thinks she is perfect the way she is. He can’t understand why she is dieting. All of Beth’s friends are impressed with how Beth looks till…Beth takes things to far.
I thought Dancing with Ana was a sad and emotional read. This is good. It made me really become connected with Beth and Jeremy. I appreciated that Beth had someone like Jeremy in her life that cared and looked out for her. It is not easy to take a subject like anorexia and incorporate it into a book, where the story doesn’t come off as too preachy or the characters are too self-centered. I thought that Nicole Barker did a good job in finding that right balance. Dancing with Ana tells a nice message that self image isn’t everything and that there is always someone who loves you for being you. Also life can throw you curve balls but with a strong support system, you can get through anything without resorting to anorexia.
Besides keeping busy with dieting and school, Beth has found herself occupied with a certain boy. Jeremy and Beth grew up together. Jeremy lives across the street. It wasn’t till recently when they both started to see each other as boy and girl an not just friends. Jeremy really likes Beth and thinks she is perfect the way she is. He can’t understand why she is dieting. All of Beth’s friends are impressed with how Beth looks till…Beth takes things to far.
I thought Dancing with Ana was a sad and emotional read. This is good. It made me really become connected with Beth and Jeremy. I appreciated that Beth had someone like Jeremy in her life that cared and looked out for her. It is not easy to take a subject like anorexia and incorporate it into a book, where the story doesn’t come off as too preachy or the characters are too self-centered. I thought that Nicole Barker did a good job in finding that right balance. Dancing with Ana tells a nice message that self image isn’t everything and that there is always someone who loves you for being you. Also life can throw you curve balls but with a strong support system, you can get through anything without resorting to anorexia.
September 13, 2009
This book was a really quick and enjoyable read. We start off seeing Beth and her 3 friends are making plans to diet in hopes of becoming as pretty as the most popular girl in their school. Beth sees it also as a way to make herself happier after having to deal with her father first having an affair, leaving their family and then finally skipping out on his weekends with Beth and her brother. One of Beth’s friends is also dealing with a mom who is more concerned with her boyfriends than her daughter and she deals with it by cutting herself. Barker deals with both issues, anorexia and cutting, in a tasteful manner but things move along at a pace that seems unbelievable. It seems like everything takes place in just a couple weeks or so and resolves itself so nice and pat that I found it a little surprising. While Beth and her friends all seem believable the boys they all have interest in seem to perfect to me. Despite this I would suggest this book if you are looking for a quick read that deals with issues facing many of our teenagers.
On a side note I will say I wish the book had a different cover. I found the book blurb interesting which is why I accepted this book to review but I have to admit the cover turned me off a bit. If you have seen a few of my other posts I am really into book covers. If a book has a great cover I am more likely to randomly pick it up from a book display over one with a cover that doesn’t catch my eye.
On a side note I will say I wish the book had a different cover. I found the book blurb interesting which is why I accepted this book to review but I have to admit the cover turned me off a bit. If you have seen a few of my other posts I am really into book covers. If a book has a great cover I am more likely to randomly pick it up from a book display over one with a cover that doesn’t catch my eye.
August 24, 2009
What can I say about this book. First I read it in one sitting. As in told my DH to wait to go out to eat so I could finish it. I honestly couldn't put it down. Second, I have often said in reviews that the characters feel real in a book. That's how Beth and her friends are in this book. Ms. Barker has the teenagers pegged, nothing sounded contrived, all their actions made sense in the context of them being teenagers. The problems, conflicts, emotions and actions were very typical of teenagers. I also like the fact that she used different types of girls for the four best friends. These aren't your cookie-cutter, all the teenagers are the same, they all four have different backgrounds, different problems and different ways of dealing with teenage life. There is a healthy way and a not healthy way, but none of it seems preachy. The reader just accepts each girl for who and what she is. There is no judgement, just learning about the girls and enjoying watching them grow and learn as teenagers.
I don't know anymore to really say than that - it is an excellent book. It can be read by young adults and older adults just the same, it has something in it for each of us. And it's able to do that while being an entertaining story. I am definitely looking forward to reading Nicole Barker's next book.
I don't know anymore to really say than that - it is an excellent book. It can be read by young adults and older adults just the same, it has something in it for each of us. And it's able to do that while being an entertaining story. I am definitely looking forward to reading Nicole Barker's next book.
August 13, 2009
To start off - Ana is anorexia. It is the desire to be in complete and total control over "something" in a persons life, the more awkward the social setting the more likely that need for control come into play. I've had many friends in my life flirt with "ana" - though most of the people in my life tend to eat their emotions rather than purge.
Beth’s life appears to be perfect - she has great friends, a great body, and a cute boy who likes her. There's only one problem - it’s all on the surface. Underneath everything her life is a mess. Her parents divorce eats at her slowly - she resents her father more and more so she begins to fixate on losing weight. Her friends join - mostly. The people close to her start to get worried.
There is a very healthy romance - boy next door kinda thing going on, for all of the characters really. I was a little "shocked" by the party scene and all of the booze but I do understand that children today are growing up a bit faster - or maybe it's I grew up a little slower.
Thank you very much, author Nicole Barker, I appreciate you sending me a copy of "Dancing with Ana" to review. I finished it in two hours - be prepared for a stellar read, but a very emotionally draining process.
(Side note - I am still a bit confused with the "blurb" why is she sticking her fingers down her throat - that's bulima, right???)
Beth’s life appears to be perfect - she has great friends, a great body, and a cute boy who likes her. There's only one problem - it’s all on the surface. Underneath everything her life is a mess. Her parents divorce eats at her slowly - she resents her father more and more so she begins to fixate on losing weight. Her friends join - mostly. The people close to her start to get worried.
There is a very healthy romance - boy next door kinda thing going on, for all of the characters really. I was a little "shocked" by the party scene and all of the booze but I do understand that children today are growing up a bit faster - or maybe it's I grew up a little slower.
Thank you very much, author Nicole Barker, I appreciate you sending me a copy of "Dancing with Ana" to review. I finished it in two hours - be prepared for a stellar read, but a very emotionally draining process.
(Side note - I am still a bit confused with the "blurb" why is she sticking her fingers down her throat - that's bulima, right???)
November 5, 2012
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
Beth and her friends decide to band together to help each other lose a few pounds. It starts out sensibly.
Beth does research and bases their goal weights on charts and heights. Her friends all start out well, but within a matter of weeks, they all realize that they don't need to lose weight or are comfortable with who they are. But Beth has her goal weight in her sights, and she decides to continue on her quest to lose the desired pounds.
Beth starts to date her longtime neighbor, Jeremy, and things are going well with that. But before long, Beth finds she's still not happy with her weight and starts to hide her eating habits from both her mom and Jeremy. She gets lightheaded more often, and things get serious when she passes out on the track at school.
Beth has to come to grips with things that have happened in her life that she had no control over before she can gain control over herself and her weight.
DANCING WITH ANA is a good book for anyone struggling with self-image issues. It shows how a seemingly little thing like losing a few pounds can grow out of control.
Beth and her friends decide to band together to help each other lose a few pounds. It starts out sensibly.
Beth does research and bases their goal weights on charts and heights. Her friends all start out well, but within a matter of weeks, they all realize that they don't need to lose weight or are comfortable with who they are. But Beth has her goal weight in her sights, and she decides to continue on her quest to lose the desired pounds.
Beth starts to date her longtime neighbor, Jeremy, and things are going well with that. But before long, Beth finds she's still not happy with her weight and starts to hide her eating habits from both her mom and Jeremy. She gets lightheaded more often, and things get serious when she passes out on the track at school.
Beth has to come to grips with things that have happened in her life that she had no control over before she can gain control over herself and her weight.
DANCING WITH ANA is a good book for anyone struggling with self-image issues. It shows how a seemingly little thing like losing a few pounds can grow out of control.
September 6, 2009
"Dancing With Ana" by Nicole Barker
(from the back cover)
Beth is a lucky girl....She comes from a loving family. She has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she's grown up with has the most amazing green eyes...Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed. Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?
MY THOUGHTS: This is a very short book and is very good. It gives insights into why a person would want to loose weight and also gives you insights into anorexia. Beth is a typical teenager, she has best friends, loves going to the beach, and she has a new boyfriend. She is also suffering from losing her father to divorce. She starts the diet to loose a few pounds and it soon escalates into an out of control situation that she doesn't know how to stop or what's causing it. With the help of her friends, family and her new boyfriend she gets through this situation and learns to eat again.
(from the back cover)
Beth is a lucky girl....She comes from a loving family. She has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she's grown up with has the most amazing green eyes...Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed. Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?
MY THOUGHTS: This is a very short book and is very good. It gives insights into why a person would want to loose weight and also gives you insights into anorexia. Beth is a typical teenager, she has best friends, loves going to the beach, and she has a new boyfriend. She is also suffering from losing her father to divorce. She starts the diet to loose a few pounds and it soon escalates into an out of control situation that she doesn't know how to stop or what's causing it. With the help of her friends, family and her new boyfriend she gets through this situation and learns to eat again.
August 2, 2009
I received this book from the author for review. It is only 170 pages, so it is a very quick read. I was very intrigued by the premise of the story and, overall, I did enjoy the book. With that I said, I also felt that the characters and the story could have been fleshed out more and the book could have been much longer. I felt that I only got a cursory glance into these girls lives and I wanted to know more!! The story was just too quick for me!
The author changed viewpoints quite a bit also, so I got confused at times as to who was narrating (sometimes from sentence to sentence!), so I had to go back and re-read some parts to try and put everything together.
All that aside, this book does grab you right away and is a very engaging story. I would definitely classify it as Young Adult (YA). It really makes you think about anorexia/bulimia and the pressures teens face to be "beautiful". This is definitely worth a read!
Thanks, Ms. Barker for the wonderful review copy!
The author changed viewpoints quite a bit also, so I got confused at times as to who was narrating (sometimes from sentence to sentence!), so I had to go back and re-read some parts to try and put everything together.
All that aside, this book does grab you right away and is a very engaging story. I would definitely classify it as Young Adult (YA). It really makes you think about anorexia/bulimia and the pressures teens face to be "beautiful". This is definitely worth a read!
Thanks, Ms. Barker for the wonderful review copy!
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