Starfish by Lisa Fipps is about a girl named Ellie who is in 6th grade and is getting bullied by the kids at school because she is obese. At home her mom is her biggest bully. She verbally abuses Ellie and says that she is too big and needs to lose weight, so now Ellie feels like she needs to lose weight for her mom to love her again. Ellie's mom also forces Ellie to try a new diet every week so that she loses weight.
Fifty years ago in a town barely more than a pinpoint on a map, a deadly tornado swept through the local drive-in and took a whole generation of teenagers with it. In the present, there are too many coincidences: another tornado, the now ruined drive-in, and the same teens roaming as Spirits.
Elena has been struggling since a young age, shutting people out and retreating into herself. By 17, she is diagnosed with anorexia and is continually in and out of treatment centers. This is about her journey, the ups and the downs of her eating disorder.
This was a very engaging, interesting read. I especially appreciated the unusual point of view; this story was narrated by the disease itself. At first, the narrator was mildly suggestive: eat this, not that; run just a little further. As the anorexia began taking over, it became more and more demanding and controlling until it directed every aspect of 15 year old Mike's life. When he tried to make a decision that did not further the purposes of the disease, the anorexia talked to him, tricked him into believing that another choice was better.
