Paperweight

Gr 8 Up—This realistic tale opens as Stephanie (Stevie) arrives at a 60-day residential treatment facility for eating disorder, located in rural New Mexico. Back in Atlanta, Stevie thought she had it all figured out—how to starve herself slowly (except when she got drunk, binged, and purged) so that she would be dead in a year. The treatment center proves to be a challenge, though, and a strict routine dictates Stevie's existence day to day: therapy with "Shrink," carefully portioned meals and snacks designed to help Stevie gain weight, group therapy, and medications. The teen resists her therapist's efforts to talk about her past, but flashbacks reveal the events that led to the extreme illness she is now battling. Joshua (her beloved "Irish twin" brother) died in a car accident nearly one year ago and the protagonist blames herself. An enabling friend Eden seems to be a mysterious reason for the accident. And Stevie's restrictive and distant mother abandoned the family to go live in Paris. The girl's exterior armor is painstakingly chipped away (with setbacks, of course) and she begins to uncover the truth of her past until it all becomes clear to Stevie and to readers. Despite her flaws, it is hard not to feel for Stevie. A carefully constructed buildup still lends to a quick read, which is hard to put down. Haston deals respectfully with the difficult subject matters of eating disorders and focuses on the recovery rather than the disease.