Hot Reads
Book Lists - Dying to be Thin
Teen & Chapter Book Fiction
- Bigger Book of Lydia by Margaret Willey - Still very small at fifteen, Lydia becomes self-conscious about her size and develops an obsession with growing, until she meets Michelle, who has anorexia nervosa and wants only to be smaller
- Early Disorder by Rebecca Joseph - Unable to cope with the emotional turmoil of growing up, a 15-year-old gradually developing anorexia nervosa silently begs for but openly rejects help as she slowly starves herself.
- Hanged Man by Francesca Lia Block - Having stopped eating after the death of her father, seventeen-year-old Laurel feels herself losing control of her life in the hot, magical world of Los Angeles.
- Hunger Scream by Ivy Ruckman - A girl who suffers from anorexia struggles to deal with the problem.
- I am an Artichoke by Lucy Frank - Working as a mother's helper in New York City, fifteen-year-old Sarah finds herself caught in the middle of a troubled relationship between an eccentric writer and her anorexic daughter.
- I was a 15-year-old Blimp by Patti Stren - Fifteen-year-old Gabby resorts to drastic measures in her struggle to lose weight but finds there is more to being grown up than being skinny.
- Nell's Quilt by Susan Terris - Urged at the age of eighteen to marry a man she doesn't want, Nell delays the event by working on a quilt, slowly starving herself, and observing the unhappy lot of many women in turn-of-the century Massachusetts before arriving at a decision to rescue herself from the brink of death and take charge of her life.
- Second Star to the Right by Deborah Hautzig - As 14-year-old Leslie begins to shed the weight she feels makes her imperfect, she finds it increasingly difficult to reach out for the psychological help she knows she needs.
Adult Fiction for Teens
- Best Little Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron - Teenager Francesca Deitrich feels too fat, giving into the pressures of her ballet teacher and the pencil-thin models in the media, in a revealing story about a ""perfect"" little girl suffering from the destructive obsession of anorexia nervosa.
- Hunger Point by Jillian Medoff - This novel attempts to unravel the familial and social pressures that drive two sisters into a life of serious food abuse. One survives, the other doesn't.
- Life Size by Jenefer Shute - Josie, a 25-year-old graduate student, weighs 67 pounds when she is taken against her will to a treatment center for eating disorders. She dreams of existing on air like a plant and cherishes the strength of her will and her pure, clear shape. Just bones.
- My Sister's Bones by Cathi Hanauer - From September to May, here are an eventful few months in the life of a plucky New Jersey girl, a doctor's younger daughter who is coming of age just as her beautiful older sister begins to succumb to anorexia.
- Passion of Alice by Stephanie Grant - The story of Alice, who is admitted to a clinic for eating disorders. But she refuses help until the raucous and rebellious Maeve arrives and helps her discover a passionate desire to live.
Nonfiction
- Fasting Girls: the History of Anorexia Nervosa 616.85262 BRU
- Inner Hunger: a Young Woman's Struggle Through Anorexia and Bulimia B Apostolides, Marianne
- Long Road Back: a Survivor's Guide to Anorexia B S244l
- Monster Within: Overcoming Eating Disorders B M1277m
- My Name is Caroline B M6468m
- Secret Language of Eating Disorders 616.8526 CLA
- Stick Figure: a Diary of My Former Self B Gottlieb, Lori
