I listened to this on libro.fm and I think I started crying about four minutes in and then continued to cry off and on for the rest of the 3.5 hours it took to listen. This is a book I wish I'd had as a kid. I felt seen and understood and somehow the words Lisa Fipps wrote to help children today who experience the same bullying and fat-shaming that I experienced as a child were therapeutic to me even as a 38-year-old woman. 

When Ellie went through the Fat Girl Rules, I found myself nodding along, able to recall each incident that had me adding that exact rule to my own subconscious list. When Ellie's mom taped up articles about weight loss and tried to motivate her to diet, I recalled comments that adults in my life (not my mother, though) had made to me. I'm still sitting here with tears pouring out of my eyes just thinking about how beautiful this book is and how much I loved it. 

One aspect I thought was so wonderful that it was included was how Ellie realizes that her bullies have their own insecurities. That level of empathy is so important for children to see and understand.

The book doesn't make a point of being showy. And in the process, it normalizes several things I thought were important. First and foremost, it normalizes fatness. Not all bodies are meant to be thin. Not all people will be thin, no matter what they do. It normalizes therapy. Disordered eating can and often does stem from something psychological, and regardless of the reasons why a person goes to therapy, the stigma needs to be removed. There's nothing wrong with it. I loved how it incorporated diversity in a way that Ellie viewed as completely normal to her everyday life in that she embraced Catalina's family and their cultures and traditions, and it was also her custom to celebrate both her Christian and Jewish heritage, as well. She didn't question it. She celebrated it. An important lesson for kids who learn to see "the other" from the adults around them. I also love that it teaches kids (through Ellie's therapy sessions) how to respectfully and responsibly advocate and stand up for themselves in order to embrace who they are. 

It's written in verse but because I listened to the audio, I didn't get to experience that quite as much. It's likely that I will find a copy of the book and read again so that I can experience that aspect of it, as well. 

This was such a great book with good lessons for kids (and adults). It's getting a hug and someone telling you that you're a whole person and you deserve to be seen and to occupy space in the world. When you're a fat child, you don't realize how much you internalize the message that you're not worthy ... even into adulthood. That belief is still with me, and I realized that listening to this book. This is a 100% must-read. Don't let the middle grade label turn you off of it. It's for everyone.