By: Robin Friedman
Publisher: Flux
Publish Date: 2008
ISBN: 073871304X
Page #: 232
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Fiction
Age Level: Older Teen
Series Titles: n/a
Subjects: Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders in Boys, Bulimia

Reader's Annotation: Everyone always thinks its just the girls who worry about their weight. Meet Parker, who seemingly has it all, but for him the pressure results in a secret that has him ill inside and out.

Synopsis: Parker is in high school. He is on the track team, he is gearing up for college, and he even has a girl who he likes more then just a little. It seems like he has it all, but his father is overbearing (planning out his future to be a doctor) but never really asks Parker what he wants to do. Parker is uncomfortable in his skin and doesn't like the way his body looks. Under the pressure of school, family, and image issues, Parker turns to food for comfort. He eats until he can barely stand it and then releases it into the abyss of the bathroom toilet. His sister, though jealous of the attention her brother gets, begins to suspect that things aren't right with Parker and she is faced with how to help her brother (or if she should even confront him at all). Parker is definitely not ok. His body is weak, and his personality is becoming more and more irritable. Nothing is a stunning book for both boys and girls to read. It deals with issues that are even harder to talk about then drugs and death. A shaming disease, eating disorders are something that in our culture have risen to un-calculated heights and Nothing is one step in the right direction. It is a book that can appeal to both the sufferer and the people around them as it gives a heartfelt but realistic window into a taboo subject.

Notes: Inspiration for Novel: By Robin Friendman

I met an old friend from college years after we graduated, and he mentioned in passing that he had an eating disorder when we knew each other:

“An eating disorder?” I said.

“I didn’t know that.”

“Nobody did.”

“But you’re a guy!”

“So?”

“Guys get eating disorders?”

“Yup.”

That’s all it took.

Read the first Chapter here http://www.robinfriedman.com/books/chapters/firstNothing.html

How Beautiful the Ordinary, by Michael Cart

Title: How Beautiful the Ordinary
Author: Michael Cart (Editor & Contributor)
Publish Date: 2009
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 368
ISBN: 0061154989
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Short Stories
Age Range:Young Adult
Price: $16.99

Annotation: A compilation of Short Stories from many top young adult writers that deal with LBGTQ issues, love, and identity.

Summary: An anthology of beautiful stories told in many unique fashions geared for the unique and amazing world of first love, identity, and so on for LBGTQ teens. Here are authors such as Francesca Lia Block, David Leviathan, Julie Ann Peters, and many many more big names and accomplished YA authors. In Happily Ever After we have a graphic novel where love not magical genies fixes romance. And in other stories we have different perspectives. A boy mistaken for a girl refused to wear a dress, and a mother writes to a daughter she hasn't seen in over a decade. These stories are brought to you from a place of "now" while the travel in either the past or present or both to see the beautiful, distinct perspective of sexual identity for teens who

Evaluation: Michael Cart was formally an ALA president of YALSA and it's clear in this compilation that he is intimate with amazing authors and their work and what they have to offer. He is aware of the need for controversial topics to be honored and published, as well as the voice of the teen. I really enjoyed going through this book, getting to know authors I haven't read before (it's kinda like a buffet of authors), and seeing through brief windows of identity.

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Indentity, Love, LGBTQ

Reason this book was chosen: Both for what it attempts to accomplish, as for the authors included. But, mostly I wanted to see what YALSA's Michael Cart edited and had a part in getting these important voices out into the world on these equally important issues!

Peak Inside: http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061154980

Publisher Website:

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061154980/How_Beautiful_the_Ordinary/index.aspx

Luna, by Julie Anne Peters

Title:Luna
Author:Julie Ann Peters
Publish Date:February 1, 2006
Publisher:Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages:256 pages
ISBN:0316011274
Classification:
Genre:
Age Range:Young Adult
Price: $7.99
Annotation: Regan is faced with the difficult nature of dealing with her transgender brother "transition" into being a girl.

Summary: Regan has always felt that her brother Liam was different. In fact, he was transgender, and actually a girl. This was never, ever an issue for Regan. But now, Liam-who now goes by Luna-has decided to transition in public. For Regan, she never had a problem keeping the secret but now she has to accept it in public. Can she do it?

Evaluation: Finely written, touching, and shows how others around react to his change. Really illustrates the way in which we support the ones we love, or should I say, the true nature of our acceptance of the ones we love. Also, this books is reads fast and easy which makes it easy to put yourself and you own feeling into the book! Very, very good.

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Transitioning and Transgender Issues

Reason this book was chosen: It's an award winning book that looks at the life of an ignored medical issue and makes you think twice about all gay and lesbian people and whether or not they "have a choice."

Website: http://julieannepeters.com/files/JPYABooks.htm