Light Enough to Float by Lauren Seal. 354 p. Rocky Pond Books/ Penguin Young Readers, October, 2024.
Teen Tuesday features Light Enough to Float by Lauren Seal. Fourteen-year-old Evie is dying, though she is unaware, as are her parents, until they are not. She finds herself admitted to an in-patient treatment facility for her eating disorder, and she wasn't able to say goodbye to her sister, her best friend, or her beloved dog.
This searing verse novel brutally depicts the hold that anorexics have, that prevents them from seeing themselves realistically. Evie hears voices that tell her she is fat, that she is a burden to her family, that she is unworthy. In treatment, she is weighed daily and is forced to eat. She wants to crawl out of her skin. But, she is also forced to attend group therapy sessions along with one-on-one sessions with a skilled therapist.
This is a worthy addition to any middle and high school library and stands along side John Schu's Louder Than Hunger. Both are important novels for young people.
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