"Every day, meal by meal, millions of people suffer from eating disorders. I am one of them." Nadia Shivack was fourteen years old when she met Ed, her eating disorder. Sometimes like an alien in her body, sometimes like a lover, Ed was unpredictable and exciting, but ultimately always dangerous and destructive. At an inpatient unit unit of a hospital where she was taken for treatment, Nadia wrote and drew on napkins after meals in order to keep the food in and calm the outrageous voices in her head. These pictures, together with others drawn on notebook paper and a variety of other surfaces, tell an unflinchingly honest story of a woman's lifelong battle with anorexia and bulimia. Raw, brave, and brilliant, Nadia's journey takes readers to the intimate corners of these misunderstood diseases. You will never think about eating disorders in the same way again. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

In this heartfelt, honest memoir, the author uses a graphic novel format to reveal her anguished, ongoing struggle with bulimia. Shivack's story unfolds largely through rudimentary drawings with captions and speech balloons, many created on paper napkins while she was being treated for her eating disorder. Setting the scene, the author initially depicts her rather contentious relationship with her mother, a Holocaust survivor who had very strong ideas about food, insisting that her three daughters finish everything on their dinner plates even though she herself ate only once a day (just enough to keep herself going, not a bite more). Shivack notes that her eating disorder (which she depicts as a monster named Ed) started when she began swimming competitively in high school her coach criticized those swimmers who needed to lose weight. Feeling a part of that category, Shivack launched a regimen of binging, purging and compulsive exercising. In a poignant drawing, she likens her daily routine as a teen to a perilous climb up a steep, jagged mountain. Her dizzying downward spiral is sobering indeed, as her bulimia takes over her life and she becomes suicidal. Yet Shivack ends on a hopeful note, vowing, as an adult, to continue on her road to recovery. Statistics about eating disorders are found throughout the book, which concludes with a list of resources. Though intensely personal and perhaps of necessity repetitious, this harrowing chronicle may well provide support and solace to teens facing a similar crisis. Ages 12-up. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Starred Review. Gr 9 Up Shivack's personal narrative and graphic-novel-style depiction of her eating disorder, including anorexia and bulimia, is disturbing, revealing, and ultimately enlightening. Chronicled on napkins, notebook paper, or whatever scrap was available, Nadia's story unfolds as she endures it. She refers to her eating disorder as "Ed," draws it as a dragon, and details its hold on her life and sanity starting at age 14. This is a work that speaks to the victims, revealing the inner turmoil, possible causes, and pain. Especially poignant are the pictures, such as the anatomy of a flower with a torment of words on each petal describing her angst while a small figure leans over the central blue seed, the toilet bowl. The drawings are laid out on yellow pages, while a hindsight commentary about what was happening appears in white type over black boxes. Facts about the illness are presented in darker yellow boxes and each is linked to a specific Web site at the conclusion. A list of resources for intervention is appended. While the handwritten text and complex images are occasionally hard to decipher, readers will be motivated to stick with them as they decode the messages. The time it takes to examine the text and drawings heightens the book's impact. Filled with harrowing honesty, this presentation provides a portal to understanding a devastating illness. Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information