“And I’m learning to love me.
The fat on my body
never felt as heavy as your words on my heart”
This book ripped my heart out, stomped on it, restored it, then repeated the cycle.
I feel like a lot of times, we know words have meaning, but we forget what how they affect others. Starfish is a perfect example. Ellie’s sister is the one who started her horrible nickname, “Splash” which has changed her world completely. It’s such a heartbreaking journey that clearly needs to be addressed in our society.
My oldest is 4. When Ellie’s mom slaps her hand at 4 and declares that she is putting her on a diet, I gasped. I cannot imagine restricting my child and giving them a concept of what is considered “skinny” or “fat” at this age. “Adjectives and Nouns” had me crying and holding E tight. How? Why?
At first, I thought, why isn’t this YA? This is a middle grade book? Then I read each free verse page after page and it clicked. This is for the 10 year old Ellie reading this for the first time and seeing the light of the end of the tunnel. I loved in the acknowledgements this was discussed. It’s so beautiful. The free verse is effortless, the words stinging and healing.
Overall, amazing. AMAZING. Starfish is a journey of acceptance, self love, and how to express your feelings in a way that others can come to a place of understanding. Thank you Bookish First & Penguin Kids for the gifted copy. Starfish is out March 9th.
The fat on my body
never felt as heavy as your words on my heart”
This book ripped my heart out, stomped on it, restored it, then repeated the cycle.
I feel like a lot of times, we know words have meaning, but we forget what how they affect others. Starfish is a perfect example. Ellie’s sister is the one who started her horrible nickname, “Splash” which has changed her world completely. It’s such a heartbreaking journey that clearly needs to be addressed in our society.
My oldest is 4. When Ellie’s mom slaps her hand at 4 and declares that she is putting her on a diet, I gasped. I cannot imagine restricting my child and giving them a concept of what is considered “skinny” or “fat” at this age. “Adjectives and Nouns” had me crying and holding E tight. How? Why?
At first, I thought, why isn’t this YA? This is a middle grade book? Then I read each free verse page after page and it clicked. This is for the 10 year old Ellie reading this for the first time and seeing the light of the end of the tunnel. I loved in the acknowledgements this was discussed. It’s so beautiful. The free verse is effortless, the words stinging and healing.
Overall, amazing. AMAZING. Starfish is a journey of acceptance, self love, and how to express your feelings in a way that others can come to a place of understanding. Thank you Bookish First & Penguin Kids for the gifted copy. Starfish is out March 9th.