Book: Dancing With Ana

Nicole Barker
Young Adult
The Golden Rod Press / 2009
Quality / 170 Pages
Standalone

"Beth is a lucky girl ... she comes from a loving family, she has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she's grown up with has the most amazing green eyes ... Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed.


Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?"

I picked this book up because Review Book

What I liked the Most? The language of the book - beautiful and moving.

What I liked the Least? The cover - off putting & not engaging at all

Review: To start off - Ana is anorexia. It is the desire to be in complete and total control over "something" in a persons life, the more awkward the social setting the more likely that need for control come into play. I've had many friends in my life flirt with "ana" - though most of the people in my life tend to eat their emotions rather than purge.

Beth’s life appears to be perfect - she has great friends, a great body, and a cute boy who likes her. There's only one problem - it’s all on the surface. Underneath everything her life is a mess. Her parents divorce eats at her slowly - she resents her father more and more so she begins to fixate on losing weight. Her friends join - mostly. The people close to her start to get worried.

There is a very healthy romance - boy next door kinda thing going on, for all of the characters really. I was a little "shocked" by the party scene and all of the booze but I do understand that children today are growing up a bit faster - or maybe it's I grew up a little slower.

Thank you very much, author Nicole Barker, I appreciate you sending me a copy of "Dancing with Ana" to review. I finished it in two hours - be prepared for a stellar read, but a very emotionally draining process.

(Side note - I am still a bit confused with the "blurb" why is she sticking her fingers down her throat - that's bulima, right???)

Recommended to: Female readers of all ages

Best Quote: "She danced out the pain, the sadness, the anger, the frustration, the disappointment, the disillusionment."

Challenges: 100+, August