Light Enough to Float - Hardcover

Seal, Lauren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593700147 ISBN 13: 9780593700143

Verlag: Rocky Pond Books, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

Deeply moving and authentic, this debut novel in verse follows teenage Evie through her eating disorder treatment and recovery―a perfect choice for readers of Wintergirls and Louder Than Hunger.

Evie has just barely acknowledged that she has an eating disorder when she’s admitted to an inpatient treatment facility. Now her days are filled with calorie loading, therapy sessions, and longing—for home, for control, and for the time before her troubles began. As the winter of her treatment goes on, she gradually begins to face her fears and to love herself again, with the help of caregivers and of peers who are fighting their own disordered-eating battles. This insightful, beautiful novel will touch every reader and offer hope and understanding to those who need it most.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Lauren Seal is a writer, librarian, and the Poet Laureate of St. Albert in Alberta, Canada. She mentors the teen and young adult poets of a spoken word youth choir and her poems have been published in various anthologies. This novel-in-verse, her first book, is inspired by her own experiences with anorexia, anxiety, and hospitalization. When she’s not busy recommending books to library patrons, Lauren can be found reading, writing, and composing poems in her head on long dog walks.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

September


the psychiatrist

dr. mantell,
the psychiatrist’s
nameplate shouts.
i fight the urge
to ask if his name is
printed in loud uppercase
letters to drown out us
lowercase people and our
lowercase lives.

his scalpel-gray
eyes dissect me,
quarter me, sternum
to pelvis, left breast
                                               to right,
wrench me open, reach
inside, find all the
nothing
i’ve eaten since yesterday.

                                                                      evie,
the muscles in my body contract
and freeze. i sit, still and staring:

portrait of a girl afraid.

                                                                      evie,
                                                                      do you know why you’re here?


why i’m here

because of the tests.

they took my height and weight,
took my blood, took my heart
rate, took my pee,
took my family history,
then a man in a lab coat took
my parents aside
to tell them i failed.

i’ve never failed a test in my life.

because my mother says
this is an important
appointment. we are lucky
a cancellation let
capital-t Them
fit me in.

because sometimes
i get a little sad and overwhelmed.
because sometimes i feel
like falling asleep and never waking up.

because my parents and my sister and my friend darcy and my dog would probably be happier without me. because all i do is try and try to be a perfect daughter and sister and friend and student and person but it doesn’t make me any less scared of living. because i would be happier without me.

because sometimes
i have trouble
eating
and my mother and i
argue over dinner plates
                       just three more bites
like i’m a misbehaving toddler.

i slouch down in my chair,
glare at the doctor,
refuse to speak.




why i’m really here

because of my lies.

the first:
                        i’m on a diet.
wrong,
i’ve been on all of them:
mediterranean,
keto,
raw food,
low-fat,
gluten-free,
atkins,
vegan,
paleo,
south beach.
whatever let me
restrict.
intermittent eating with frequent fasting.

second:
                        it’s only one more . . .
sit-up,
push-up,
squat,
mile.
that i wouldn’t add
one
plus
one
plus
one
plus
one              
                        until
my muscles ached,
body broke.

third:
i’m in control.
i can stop whenever
i want.




professional opinion

                                                                      your height and weight
                                                                      are very low
                                                                      for a fourteen-year-old,
dr. mantell says
                                                                      same with your hemoglobin,
                                                                      and your electrolytes.
                                                                      you have all the symptoms of
                                                                      extreme malnourishment.

pride flutters in my chest.

i nod along benignly, glare
at the office door my mom
stands behind. i missed school
to be here. does...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Rocky Pond Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593700147
• ISBN 13: 9780593700143
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 352
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar