|
$12.99
|
Item Added to Cart Electronic Item Added to Cart
|
|
Item Added to Cart
|
|
|
Strict dieting and throwing up can't be all bad, can they?
Description:
Teenager Melissa Rollins has got the eye of the cute new guy in school. The one thing Melissa doesn’t have is a perfect body. Strict dieting and throwing up can’t be all bad, can they?
Other Links of Interest:
Read a recent review of Skinny.
Download the free discussion guide for Skinny by Laura L. Smith.
Skinny
ISBN-13:
9781600063565
Trim Size: 5.5 x 8.25
Cover: Paperback
176
Pages
$12.99
Percentage Discounts for Bulk Purchases of Single Items
-
Downloadable
-
Part of a Series
-
Available in Spanish
You May Also Like:
Customer Reviews
The Skinny.
Skinny by Laura L. Smith is a sweet look at the issue of teen eating disorders. The story establishes all the predicable (and real) pressures of teen life: extra-curricular activities, homework, friendships, dating relationships, and body image amidst it all. While the main character, Melissa, is a saccharine and dramatic lead, she is a useful tool to help the author explore how otherwise stable and independent teens slip into damaging eating habits. The Christian imprint on Melissa’s life seems fairly accurate—she relies on prayer and reading her Bible, but is still figuring out what her faith means and how it applies to real-life issues like body image. Though the conflict of moral pressure seems fairly absent from the book since all of Melissa’s friends, family, and even alluring southern boyfriend are also churchgoers, the setting feels genuine. Smith deals thoughtfully with the pressures of Melissa’s life, and smartly creates a disorder that is not as extreme or obvious as bulimia or anorexia. For young women who struggle with eating and body image, or whose friends do, this story will give them hope, and perhaps help them identify unhealthy habits. Skinny works for what it is—a simple, imperfect, but loveable approach to a sensitive issue.
Posted by
Claire
on
6/8/2009 4:00:56 PM
Great Read for Teen Girls
Skinny was a fast and enjoyable read. Melissa is a normal teenage girl, with dance team practice, sleepovers with friends, homework, tests, and boy drama. She is struggling to hold it all together and get control of her life. Melissa works to lose weight because she thinks it will help in her quest to be picked for dance team captain, but in the process she becomes obsessive about what she eats (and everything else in her life). She tries to hide it from her friends and family, but eventually her juggling balls start dropping and she is forced to confess her problems. Only then can those closest to her start helping and show her a way back to a more normal life. Melissa’s faith is also a big part of her life, and she uses scripture and prayer in her recovery.
When most people think about eating disorders, they can’t understand how people could do that to themselves. This book helps the reader understand how those people transition from normal lives to stressing over every calorie. It shows how all of the little stresses in someone’s life can add up to such a huge problem; one that they struggle to keep hidden from those closest to them.
The author could have gone into more detail about the character’s recovery process, but all in all this was a good book and one I’d recommend to any teenage girl or her parents.
Posted by
Nicole Norman
on
5/24/2009 1:38:41 PM
An Honest Story and Great Read
Laura L. Smith writes a very truthful picture of a shifted focus that has effected many teenage girls. Her young adult novel centers around Melissa Rollins, a freshman striving to be on the leadership of her dance team. With school and practice and the up and down social life she begins to use food, and the lack of it, to control her world.
There are tons of books out there for and about teens and their struggles with eating disorders and weight related concerns. Skinny stands out from the crowd in that it addresses a disorder that many other books ignore. O.C.D. or obsessive compulsive disorder is often the core root of eating disorders. It’s like focus on steroids. Try as she might she can’t ever seem to escape the agonizing thoughts that always center around the same issue. These overactive thoughts quickly morph into behaviors that become habitual and more dangerous as time progresses. It’s not always a desire to be thin or derived from media images of Hollywood twigs. Sometimes it’s just a control strategy for teens and adults who feel off balance and crave some power over themselves, even if it is counterproductive.
Another thing I love about Skinny is that it doesn’t glamorize the choices Melissa is making in the story. With Anorexia and Bulimia such a buzz topic in teen circles it is easy to collect strategies from these well meaning books. Some teenagers will read these types of books like a manual for how to “do it better”. Lisa L. Smith focuses on the thoughts going on in Melissa’s head and what is driving her to make these dangerous choices, rather than focusing on the action itself and the methods of accomplishing it.
Melissa is a Christian. She loves God very much, but her understanding is clouded. She journals her prayers and reads the Word. She goes to church and she’s on her way to heaven, but this struggle is warring inside of her. Who can’t relate to that battle, right?
I can relate to Melissa. As a christian teenager I was diagnosed with an eating disorder. My behavior back then looked like an eating disorder. It was an easy fit. As I got older I got help for the eating disorder. I put on weight and everyone was happy. Then another compulsion surfaced. The compulsion for cleanliness. The deep focus on my house and the aesthetic beauty of my world began to take over my mind. What I really had was O.C.D. My eating, like with Melissa, was a symptom of my need to control. I had to learn to surrender my need to control over to God. It’s still a work in progress.
I am so thankful that there is a writer like Lisa L. Smith who is brave enough to call it what it is and to even address that it doesn’t “go away” it’s an on going struggle. It’s a struggle worth fighting and it can be helped.
Skinny is a quick read and a worthy book that I would happily recommend to teenagers.
Posted by
Heather Randall
on
5/23/2009 7:19:51 PM
A Glimpse into Obsessive-Compulsive Thoughts and Habits
Melissa has a lot on her plate: dance team (will she make captain?), schoolwork (how'd she get a C in Chemistry?), and a cute new guy (will he ask her to the Sugar Plum Stomp?)
She decides that putting less on her plate -- literally -- will help her achieve her goals. After all, losing a few pounds will help her compete against the other girls on the dance team and help her fit into that perfect new prom dress.
Through Melissa's story, author Laura Smith gives readers a glimpse at the thoughts and habits of a teenage girl developing an eating disorder. Girls who struggle with obsessive-compulsive ideologies will find Melissa's struggles authentic; those who have not will gain understanding and empathy for their friends who do.
As one who spent six weeks in an inpatient Eating Disorder Unit as a teenager, I found myself thinking, "Really?" a couple times while reading Skinny. Melissa's parents seem too good to be true: understanding, supportive, and flexible. This doesn't mesh with my experience; at group counseling sessions in the EDU, parents often demanded, "Why are you doing this to us?" Also, the ease – even relish – with which Melissa gains the doctor-ordered three pounds in one week did not ring true for me. The early stages of re-gaining weight were excruciatingly hard, at least for me and and my fellow EDU inmates. Of course, these are highly subjective reactions; each girl's struggle and story is unique.
Skinny is a great book for pre-teen and teen girls, especially for a "book club" type discussion. I also recommend that mothers of pre-teens and teen girls read Skinny, both to become familiar with the tell-tale signs of an eating disorder and to spend some time in the complex and emotion-ridden world in which our girls live.
Posted by
Cheri Gregory
on
5/16/2009 7:54:00 PM
A Glimpse into Obsessive-Compulsive Thoughts and Habits
Melissa has a lot on her plate: dance team (will she make captain?), schoolwork (how'd she get a C in Chemistry?), and a cute new guy (will he ask her to the Sugar Plum Stomp?)
She decides that putting less on her plate -- literally -- will help her achieve her goals. After all, losing a few pounds will help her compete against the other girls on the dance team and help her fit into that perfect new prom dress.
Through Melissa's story, author Laura Smith gives readers a glimpse at the thoughts and habits of a teenage girl developing an eating disorder. Girls who struggle with obsessive-compulsive ideologies will find Melissa's struggles authentic; those who have not will gain understanding and empathy for their friends who do.
As one who spent six weeks in an inpatient Eating Disorder Unit as a teenager, I found myself thinking, "Really?" a couple times while reading Skinny. Melissa's parents seem too good to be true: understanding, supportive, and flexible. This doesn't mesh with my experience; at group counseling sessions in the EDU, parents often demanded, "Why are you doing this to us?" Also, the ease – even relish – with which Melissa gains the doctor-ordered three pounds in one week did not ring true for me. The early stages of re-gaining weight were excruciatingly hard, at least for me and and my fellow EDU inmates. Of course, these are highly subjective reactions; each girl's struggle and story is unique.
Skinny is a great book for pre-teen and teen girls, especially for a "book club" type discussion. I also recommend that mothers of pre-teens and teen girls read Skinny, both to become familiar with the tell-tale signs of an eating disorder and to spend some time in the complex and emotion-ridden world in which our girls live.
Posted by
Cheri Gregory
on
5/16/2009 7:00:41 PM
A Glimpse into Obsessive-Compulsive Thoughts and Habits
Melissa has a lot on her plate: dance team (will she make captain?), schoolwork (how'd she get a C in Chemistry?), and a cute new guy (will he ask her to the Sugar Plum Stomp?)
She decides that putting less on her plate -- literally -- will help her achieve her goals. After all, losing a few pounds will help her compete against the other girls on the dance team and help her fit into that perfect new prom dress.
Through Melissa's story, author Laura Smith gives readers a glimpse at the thoughts and habits of a teenage girl developing an eating disorder. Girls who struggle with obsessive-compulsive ideologies will find Melissa's struggles authentic; those who have not will gain understanding and empathy for their friends who do.
As one who spent six weeks in an inpatient Eating Disorder Unit as a teenager, I found myself thinking, "Really?" a couple times while reading Skinny. Melissa's parents seem too good to be true: understanding, supportive, and flexible. This doesn't mesh with my experience; at group counseling sessions in the EDU, parents often demanded, "Why are you doing this to us?" Also, the ease – even relish – with which Melissa gains the doctor-ordered three pounds in one week did not ring true for me. The early stages of re-gaining weight were excruciatingly hard, at least for me and and my fellow EDU inmates. Of course, these are highly subjective reactions; each girl's struggle and story is unique.
Skinny is a great book for pre-teen and teen girls, especially for a "book club" type discussion. I also recommend that mothers of pre-teens and teen girls read Skinny, both to become familiar with the tell-tale signs of an eating disorder and to spend some time in the complex and emotion-ridden world in which our girls live.
Posted by
Cheri Gregory
on
5/16/2009 6:59:20 PM
Quick read
I really enjoyed reading Skinny by: Laura L. Smith. I wasn’t sure that I would because of the topic but I ended up enjoying myself and it turned out to be a fast read. To many teens these days think they are overweight because of women they see in magazines. I liked how Melissa’s character was portrayed and how the plot was laid out. The characters were very well developed. It kept me entertained from page one. I liked how the ending didn’t just stop abruptly like a lot of books tend to do, and I would definitely recommend this book to a friend. I was delighted to see that she went to her best friend for help and that her family didn’t judge her for what she had done to herself. High school and peer pressure can be extremely tough so I understand how Melissa might have thought of herself as overweight. I have a friend who used to have an eating disorder and her symptoms were a lot like what the book described so I’m really happy that Melissa saw the error of her ways and that what she was doing was harming her body, not helping it.
Posted by
Allura Walsh
on
5/5/2009 1:01:40 PM
Good Read for Teenage Girls
I really liked this book. It was a fast read and very entertaining. It brought me back to my high school years and the trials that a teenage girl goes through - getting good grades, participating in extracurricular activities, having your friends like you, having the cute boy date you – all important things in a teenage girl’s life. And not everything can be controlled. This is a good book for all teenage girls to read with an important message.
The main character - Melissa - is a very likeable girl that most teens will be able to relate to. When things start spiraling out of control, Melissa finds the one thing she can still control – her eating. But that turns out to be detrimental to her life and it impacts her dancing. She finally comes to terms (sort of) with her eating.
I was disappointed in the ending. If you are looking for something that will help a girl that is already anorexic, this is not the book. She is not truly over her issues with food in the end. She has basically identified there is a need to be careful and for her parents to watch but it is a battle she will have to control even after the book ended. This book is good for the upcoming teenager to understand the heartache and trials you will start to endure when entering high school and how NOT to handle the pressure.
Posted by
Heather Singh
on
4/30/2009 1:58:03 PM
Skinny by Laura L. Smith
When I saw this book on the list to review, I knew it was a book I wanted to read.
It's a young adult fiction book which deals with the ever growing problem in young teen girls and even boys at times. I never struggled with the weight problem when I was a teen. In fact, I was probably considered underweight. It wasn't something that was talked about when I was in high school. I think in recent years watching my daughter grow up, it's much more prevalent. I think the pressure to look and be thin is also something that is emphasized with magazines and clothes.
Anorexia and bulimia are the symptoms of a deeper problem. This book does an excellent job in showing this.
I think this book does an excellent job in showing all the stresses and factors that can lead to the problem. Stress to do well in school, dating relationships, dance and cheer squads, and to look like the other girls. I found the main character,Melissa, a very believable character. I liked the fact that she came from a very solid loving family. I think it shows that it can happen to anyone. Her faith is a strong part of her recovery. She uses prayer and scripture to help in those hard times.
It shows how she becomes obsessed with her weight and it distorts her perception of herself leading to low self esteem. She has one friend,Gracie, who stands by her and supports her. I think the ending isn't always as simple as they make it in the book. Most girls who suffer from this need months and sometimes years of treatment. Many times those closest miss the signs just as her parents did.
I would recommend this book to every young girl who has struggled with this or has a friend who has.
Posted by
Rochelle Southard
on
4/25/2009 7:01:58 PM
Skinny
This is a great little book. It is intended for young adults and I am slightly older than the target audience but I still like it. The main character struggles with her weighting, thinking she needs to be thinner to fit in. This is a thought every woman has had in the past. This book is super easy to read, it is easy to identify with the main character, a freshman in high school. The author, Laura Smith, wrote a real story. The author really gets into the mind of Melissa. It is really aimed at 14-16 year olds but it would help an adult see into the minds of young adults. The build up of the eating disorder seemed very realistic, the thought process was clear and easily displayed through the text. The recovery process seemed very quick. I would have liked the see the book continue for another week in Melissa's life. I think better understanding the treatment process would be beneficial for teenage women. I really enjoyed the Christian aspect of the novel. It is important to show that even Christians struggle with things like eating disorders. Melissa took a verse out of the bible completely out of context to support her eating disorder as many people do. It was great to see that resolved through truth! Overall it's a good book.
Posted by
Julie
on
4/24/2009 8:23:35 PM
Teen girls need to read this book
Melissa is just your typical teenage girl who likes hanging out with her friends, hoping to catch the new guy's eye, and trying out for the dance squad. However behind her happy facade likes a dark secret that she's hidden from everyone else. Melissa has an eating disorder which she denies to even herself. She's doing everything to stay thin, even to the point of justifying that the Bible preaches that God doesn't want her to eat. She thinks she'll be able to control it but soon finds out that being too skinny just isn't worth it.
It's frustrating to read about girls who have eating disorders. You want to tell them, you don't need to lose weight, you're fine just the way you are. It pains you to see someone hurt themselves. However as uncomfortable as this topic can be, it's a serious issue that needs to be brought into the open. This book perfectly captures the life of a teenage girl with an eating disorder. Melissa is your average teenage girl who just wants to fit in during her high school years. I liked how the author made her likable and modern without being too trendy. The dialogue between the teens was realistic and perfectly captured what life is like for the average teen girl (complete with those mean girls!!). However as the story progresses, the reader soon learns that Melissa is facing a battle with herself and her body. What I thought was most interesting about Melissa's situation is that she doesn't try to lose weight because of a boy. While she does have a relationship with a guy throughout the book, he's not really a factor in her decisions to not eat. Her real reasons were more with trying to maintain control in her life, and this was the only way that she could. Side effects of eating disorders are shown to be very painful and unpleasant so hopefully girls who read this book will get the impression that extreme dieting is not the way to go. My only qualm with the book is that I felt Melissa's recovery happened much too quickly. She goes from barely eating anything to being able to choke down a whole piece of pizza. First off, why in the world her parents would buy a fully loaded pizza and expect her to eat this, after she's been diagnosed with an eating disorder is beyond me. From reading other accounts of recovering anorexics and bulimics, it would have taken her a long time to adjust to eating food again and keeping everything down. I don't have a problem with her getting well and having treatment, I just felt that it seemed a little rushed and not that realistic.
However the book is a really great read. I, myself, couldn't put it down. The writing is engaging, entertaining, and realistic. It may be a short read but it packs quite a punch. Any teen girl who's even thought about considering that not eating would be a good idea, needs to read this book.
Posted by
Deborah
on
4/2/2009 12:22:52 PM