Starfish by Lisa Fipps is about a girl named Ellie who is in 6th grade and is getting bullied by the kids at school because she is obese. At home her mom is her biggest bully. She verbally abuses Ellie and says that she is too big and needs to lose weight, so now Ellie feels like she needs to lose weight for her mom to love her again. Ellie's mom also forces Ellie to try a new diet every week so that she loses weight. Ellie's favorite thing to do is swim alone in her pool because she feels like she weighs nothing and feels beautiful there. She gains confidence and then everyone crushes it except her dad and her two best friends they always make sure Ellie is comfortable. Now Ellie has to learn to believe that she is beautiful just the way she is even when others constantly put her down.
This is such a beautiful book about eating disorders and bullying. I really loved how the author wrote the book in verse and made it a quick and easy but meaningful read. I would recommend this book to people from ages 10-15. This is a great book but it also is very sad in some parts. This book talks about eating disorders, bullying, and verbal abuse.