Today, as promised, I have a list of books I’ve discovered that deal with the subject of body image for teens and middle grade. This list was tough to put together because as I’ve mentioned before, there are very few books that address this topic. Below is what I have so far. If you think of any other books that should be on this list, leave a comment and I’ll update the post. Here’s my list (in no particular order and with links to Goodreads):
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Purge by Sarah Darer Littman
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headly
More Than You Can Chew by Marnelle Tokio
The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things* by Carolyn Mackler
Uglies* by Scott Westerfeld
Reasons to Be Happy* by Katrina Kittle
Vibes by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Deenie by Judy Blume
Best Little Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron
Operation Beautiful by Caitlin Boyle
Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif
(Note: Books marked with a * are ones I myself have read and would recommend. All other books have been recommended to me by you all!) Also, if you’re still looking for more body image books (particularly ones dealing with eating disorders), here’s a list I found on Goodreads: YA Eating Disorder Books
Comments on this post
I probably should explain that Vibes doesn’t deal with body image per se; how the protagonist perceives herself, how she feels about herself and her body are, however, implicit throughout.
22. September - 11:48 amThank you for adding that clarification, Satia! Definitely interested in reading this book (as well as the others I haven’t read on the list).
22. September - 2:36 pmEllen Hopkins has a new one out that touches on body image. It’s called Perfect. Sounds interesting! http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/perfect/
22. September - 4:40 pm