An emotional journey that follows four patients through the Renfrew Center, a residential facility in Florida dedicated to the treatment of eating disorders, and includes portraits of fifteen other residents of diverse ages and backgrounds.

Anorexia is a disorder in keeping with our times, since it combines the abundance of food with the models of excessive thinness. Likewise, it is scary: those who suffer from it, or may suffer from it, perceive the pathology as a virtue and not as a disorder, coming to "love" this dangerous disease. Furthermore, for doctors and therapists this pathology is especially difficult to treat because not all anorexic patients present the same symptoms, leading...

Yara Zgheib's poetic and poignant debut novel is a haunting portrait of a young woman's struggle with anorexia on an intimate journey to reclaim her life. The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists' list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran...

Fourteen-year-old Max records his efforts to control his anorexia in a therapist-prescribed journal that also chronicles his parents' difficult relationship and his feelings for a new girl at school, Evie.

"A narrative, in graphic novel form, of a young woman coming of age while struggling with an eating disorder and family dysfunction. Documents the author's battle with body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia, which plagued her from her childhood through to adulthood"--

A group of teens in a Seattle-area rehabilitation center form an unlikely friendship as they begin to focus less on their own problems with drugs (including alcohol) by reaching out to help a new member, who seems to have even deeper issues to resolve.

"Clare Dunkle seemed to have an ideal life--two beautiful, high-achieving teenage daughters, a loving husband, and a satisfying and successful career as a children's book novelist. But it's when you let down your guard that the ax falls. Just after one daughter successfully conquered her depression, another daughter developed a life-threatening eating disorder. Co-published with Elena Vanishing, the memoir of her daughter, this is the story--told...