Louder Than Hunger by John Schu. 528 p. Candlewick Press, March, 2024. 9781536234206. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)
Happy Tuesday! Today is the final day of the school year and the heat wave is settling in. Best bet is to stay inside and read! Teen Tuesday features Louder Than Hunger by John Schu.
Jake is a lonely, miserable eighth grader. He has been relentlessly bullied by his peers for years and his only friend is his beloved grandmother and an angel he sometimes talks to. Jake's tormentors are not just classmates though. He has a voice inside his head that tells him he's not good enough, and it's getting loud and scary. He finds comfort in volunteering at a nursing home and it is one of his favorite patients who notices Jake's weight loss. She alerts Jakes parents and he is admitted to a residential treatment facility. He definitely does not want to be there following a schedule, getting weighed daily and, ugh, eating. He is resistant to treatment, but makes some friends.
This verse novel is Jake's journal. It's a compelling, heartbreaking, yet hopeful read. The book is based on the author's own struggles with being bullied, and suffering from OCD and disordered eating. Back matter contains an author's note with organizations that can help. I started out reading Jake's story with my ears and the performance was fine, but I realized that there was much I was missing (line breaks, angry scribbles and such) by not reading it with my eyes, so I switched. This book helped me get out of my reading slump. Highly recommended.
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