From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10-Kim, a high school senior, is on a downward spiral into anorexia. Speaking through her journal, she confides the hopes, fears, and pressures typical of a teenage girl. Her weight figures prominently in her wish to be accepted into the UCLA gymnastics program, and eventually she blames food for most of the bad things that happen to her. Kim progresses from not eating to the use of laxatives. Her rapidly changing emotions ring true, as do her feelings of helplessness-even though she is ashamed of her actions, she cannot stop herself. However, her willingness to admit her problem and accept help seems artificial and diminishes its severity. This book may encourage readers to search for additional material in the resources listed. For a more thorough picture, they should try Steven Levenkron's The Best Little Girl in the World (Turtleback, 1979).Michele Capozzella, Chappaqua Public Library, NYCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
I am so scared.
I feel like I'm silently screaming for help
and no one pays any attention of tries to hear me.
I can't control anything anymore.
It's all out to get me!
When Kim can't handle things, she eats. Then she purges. Sometimes she fasts. She knows she isn't as thin as the other girls on her gymnastics team, and she's worried that now, away from home for the first time as a college freshman, she won't be able to live up to expectations -- especially her own. Eating is the one thing she can control -- or can she?
Card catalog description
Seventeen-year-old Kim, feeling the pressure of maintaining an A average to stay on her college gymnastics team, becomes obsessive about her weight and develops anorexia.
About the Author
Beatrice Sparks is a family and adolescent therapist who edited the diary that formed the basis for Go Ask Alice, and has since edited many diaries on topics such as gangs, AIDS, and teen pregnancy in the 1988 Annie's Baby. She lives in Provo, UT.
Kim: Empty Inside: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager ANNOTATION
Seventeen-year-old Kim, feeling the pressure of maintaining an A average to stay on her college gymnastics team, becomes obsessive about her weight and develops anorexia.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
I am so scared.
I feel like I'm silently screaming for help
and no one pays any attention of tries to hear me.
I can't control anything anymore.
It's all out to get me!
When Kim can't handle things, she eats. Then she purges. Sometimes she fasts. She knows she isn't as thin as the other girls on her gymnastics team, and she's worried that now, away from home for the first time as a college freshman, she won't be able to live up to expectations — especially her own. Eating is the one thing she can control — or can she?
About the AuthorBeatrice Sparks is a family and adolescent therapist who edited the diary that formed the basis for Go Ask Alice, and has since edited many diaries on topics such as gangs, AIDS, and teen pregnancy in the 1988 Annie's Baby. She lives in Provo, UT.
FROM THE CRITICS
KLIATT - Lynne Remick
During her senior year of high school, Kim comes to an important personal revelationﾽshe's a few pounds overweight and "empty inside." Bound to a seesaw of emotional ups and downs, Kim binges, purges and fluctuates from "too heavy" to "too thin." Unable to maintain balance in her diet, weight or relationships, she cries out for help with a silence that no one can interpret. Through high school, Kim hides her eating disorder from her parents, siblings, best friends, school and peers. However, during her transformation from a high school student living at home in Arizona to a UCLA college freshman, the threads that keep her secret at bay fall apartﾽand so does Kim. Written in the form of a diary ("edited" by Beatrice Sparks, Ph.D., editor of Go Ask Alice), Kim: Empty Inside portrays the tormented emotions of a teenage girl suffering from anorexia nervosa. The most frightening aspect of this book lies in the fact that Kim, on the outside, appears to be like so many other relatively normal teenagers. While the subject matter of the book seems depressing, it proves enlightening, and ends with hopeﾽwhich is something teens can never have too much of nowadays. KLIATT Codes: SﾽRecommended for senior high school students. 2002, HarperCollins, Avon, 165p.,
School Library Journal
Gr 7-10-Kim, a high school senior, is on a downward spiral into anorexia. Speaking through her journal, she confides the hopes, fears, and pressures typical of a teenage girl. Her weight figures prominently in her wish to be accepted into the UCLA gymnastics program, and eventually she blames food for most of the bad things that happen to her. Kim progresses from not eating to the use of laxatives. Her rapidly changing emotions ring true, as do her feelings of helplessness-even though she is ashamed of her actions, she cannot stop herself. However, her willingness to admit her problem and accept help seems artificial and diminishes its severity. This book may encourage readers to search for additional material in the resources listed. For a more thorough picture, they should try Steven Levenkron's The Best Little Girl in the World (Turtleback, 1979).-Michele Capozzella, Chappaqua Public Library, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
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