Starfish (Lisa Flipps)

 

The idea behind the title is that when you're overweight, people are always trying to make you smaller. Be smaller. Act smaller. The only place the main character feels comfortable is in the water where she can be as big as she wants, spread out....like a starfish.

All the while I was reading this, inside I was saying, "Oh honey. I know. I'm sorry!"

One big theme in this book is the disapproval the main character feels from her mother because she's overweight. I don't think any mother would want to pass on that idea. It does happen and reading it was heartbreaking.

I remember my first diet.
I was four.
on Thanksgiving,
after I gobbled down turkey and
all the fixings and
reached for one of
Nana's oatmeal raising cookies,
Mom slapped my hand.
"That does it.
I'm putting you on a diet tomorrow.
You. Are. Fat."

Technically, Mom used fat
as an adjective
to describe me,
But with her tone,
she made it a noun
to define me.

Until that moment,
I had never thought about
my body being big
and big being bad,
something to be ashamed of,
to hide,
to hate.

But since then,
I haven't stopped thinking about it.

p. 47 Surgery. It's something many people choose. It seems really harsh, and scary.
"For a while your mom's pushed for
you to have surgery,
but I think you're way too young.
I've pushed for therapy because
I see the hurt in your eyes
from what people say and do to you."

The rules: 

No cannonballs.
No splashing.
No making waves. 
You don't deserve
to be seen or heart,
to take up room,
to be noticed.
Make yourself small.

Move slowly so
your fat doesn't jiggle,
drawing attention to your body.

If you're fat,
there are things
you can't have.

The fatter you are,
the lower you are
on the food chain.

When eating out,
never finish first.

When you hear laughter,
someone's laughing at you.

You need to bully yourself
as much as,
If not more than, 
Everyone else bullies you. 

Goodreads says:

Ellie is tired of being fat-shamed and does something about it in this debut novel-in-verse.

Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she’s been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules–like “no making waves,” “avoid eating in public,” and “don’t move so fast that your body jiggles.” And she’s found her safe space–her swimming pool–where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. It’s also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie’s weight will motivate her to diet. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. With this support buoying her, Ellie might finally be able to cast aside the Fat Girl Rules and starfish in real life–by unapologetically being her own fabulous self.