Starfish

From School Library Journal Gr 5 Up-A charming novel in verse about a girl struggling with self-worth. Ellie is a middle school girl who is bullied every day for her weight. Whether it comes from classmates, siblings, or even her mother, Ellie is constantly bombarded with comments about her size. Luckily, her friends help keep her head up most of the time. When her best friend Viv moves away, a new friend, Catalina, fits right into her place. Ellie's dad is also an ally; he stands up to Ellie's mom and decides to take Ellie to a therapist. With the help of Dr. Wood, Ellie learns how to feel comfortable in her own skin. Once readers start, it will be difficult for them to put this book down. Ellie's story is heartbreaking and raw at times, and Fipps paints a realistic picture of bullying in a world that equates thinness with beauty. Ellie's own family, except for her dad, also buy into that ideal, calling her "Splash," making fun of her, and cataloguing everything she eats. True joy comes in watching Ellie gain confidence in herself and standing up to the bullies, even when they're family. The race of most characters is not mentioned. Catalina and her family are Mexican American. VERDICT A must-have for libraries serving teens and tweens.-Lisa Buffi, Sterling M.S., VAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. “In her debut novel, Starfish, Lisa Fipps confronts diet culture and fat phobia head-on. . . .xa0 The book reads as if Ellie herself is writing these poems, which are accessible and engaging.” — The New York Times Book Review * “Fipps bursts onto the middle-grade scene with her debut, a verse novel that shines because of Ellie’s keen and emotionally striking observations.xa0As she draws readers in with her smart and succinct voice, Ellie navigates the difficult map of knowing she deserves better treatment while struggling with the conflict that's necessary to achieve it. Fipps hands her young narrator several difficult life lessons, including how to self-advocate, how not to internalization of the words of others, and what it means to defend yourself.xa0Ellie's story will delight readers who long to see an impassioned young woman seize an unapologetic victory.”— Booklist , starred review * “Fipps’ verse is skillful and rooted in emotional reality. The text places readers in Ellie’s shoes, showing how she is attacked in many spaces—including by strangers on public transit—while clearly asserting that it’s other people who need to change. . . . Make room in your heart for this cathartic novel”— Kirkus Reviews , starred review * “Affirming representation of fatness. . . . Fipps’s use of verse is as effective as it is fitting; Ellie dreams of becoming a storyteller and poet ‘to help people feel what it’s like/ to live in/ someone else’s skin.’ A triumphant and poignantly drawn journey toward self-acceptance and self-advocacy.”— Publishers Weekly , starred review * “A charming novel in verse about a girl struggling with self-worth. . . . Once readers start, it will be difficult for them to put this book down. Ellie’s story is heartbreaking and raw at times, and Fipps paints a realistic picture of bullying in a world that equates thinness with beauty. . . . True joy comes in watching Ellie gain confidence in herself and standing up to the bullies, even when they’re family. . . . A must-have for libraries serving teens and tweens.”—School Library Journal, starred review “In this free-verse novel, Fipps is laceratingly authentic about the kind of ‘teasing’ and ‘help’ that Ellie is constantly subject to, and the family dynamic, wherein her father dislikes her mother’s treatment but rarely intervenes, is sadly believable. . . The intense focus mirrors a lot of experience, and readers will be glad to see Ellie eventually ‘starfishing—starting to claim my right to take up space.’”— The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “This beautiful, heartbreaking, and powerful novel-in-verse would pair well with media literacy lessons on body imagery, bullying, and victim shaming. The story is very engaging and readers will not want to put it down. School guidance counselors, school psychologists, and social workers will appreciate the realistic portrayal of Ellie’s therapist and the benefits of therapy for children and adults.”— School Library Connection “Ellie’s simple and powerful free-verse poems intensify her emotional turmoil and smoothly destroy stereotypes (‘They think I’m unhappy / because I’m fat. / The truth is, / I’m unhappy because / they bully me / about being fat’). Her strength in accepting herself and learning to defy her Fat Girl Rules is an inspiring reminder to all readers that they deserve to ‘take up space.’”— Horn Book “Readers will rejoice as Ellie gains the strength to confront bullies with intelligence and honesty, and refuses to allow other people’s cruelty to shape her life.”— Padma Venkatraman, award-winning author of The Bridge Home “This is a big beautiful book about a big beautiful girl. Meet Ellie, who looks in the mirror and sees someone lovable. Now, if only the rest of the world (and especially her own mother and brother) could see what Ellie sees. This is a story about the colossal cruelty that’s hurled at her because of her weight, and how, with colossal strength, Ellie manages to triumph. An honest, heartbreaking, hilarious novel-in-verse from a debut author with a delicious voice.”— Sonya Sones, author of What My Mother Doesn’t Know “Lisa Fipps’s spot-on verse gives Ellie a wrenchingly real voice that sings with humor, pain, and hope. Prepare yourself: Once you read this book, your heart will never be the same.”xa0— K. A. Holt, author of House Arrest Lisa Fipps is a graduate of Ball State University, award-winning former journalist, current director of marketing for a public library (where she won the Sara Laughlin marketing award), and an author of middle-grade books. Starfish is her debut novel. She lives in Kokomo, Indiana. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. FOR JUST A WHILE I step down into the pool. The water is bathwater warm but feels cool compared to the blisteringly hot air. Kick. Gliiiiiiide. Stroke. Gliiiiiiide. Side to side and back again. Dive under the surface. Soar to the top. Arch my back. Flip. Flop. As soon as I slip into the pool, I am weightless. Limitless. For just a while. NAME-CALLING Eliana Elizabeth Montgomery-Hofstein. That’s my name. xa0 My bestie, Viv, and my parents call me Ellie or El. xa0 But most people call me Splash xa0 or some synonym for whale . xa0 Cannonball into a pool, drenching everyone, and wear a whale swimsuit to your Under the Sea birthday party when you’re a chubby kid who grows up to be a fat tween and no one will ever let you live it down. xa0 Ever. SPLASH IS BORN Now, whenever I swim, I use the steps to ease into the water, careful not to make waves, because the memory of my pool party plays in my head like a video on a loop. xa0 It was my fifth birthday. I wanted to be the first one in, so I ran to the edge and leapt into the air and tucked my knees into my chest. xa0 Water sprayed up as I sank down. I bobbed to the surface, expecting cheers for the splashiest cannonball ever. That didn’t happen. xa0 “Splash spawned a tsunami!” my sister, Anaïs, shouted. “She almost emptied the pool,” my brother, Liam, chimed in. I dove under, drowning my tears. xa0 I wish I could tell everyone how they made me feel that day— humiliated, angry, deeply sad. xa0 But every time I try to stand up for myself, the words get stuck in my throat like a giant glob of peanut butter. xa0 Besides, if they even listened, they’d just snap back, “If you don’t like being teased, lose weight.” FAT GIRL RULES Some girls my age fill diaries with dreams and private thoughts. xa0 Mine has a list of Fat Girl Rules. xa0 You find out what these unspoken rules are when you break them— and suffer the consequences. xa0 Fat Girl Rules I learned at five: No cannonballs. No splashing. No making waves. You don’t deserve to be seen or heard, to take up room, to be noticed. Make yourself small. WHAT, WHY, WHO, HOW, WHEN The first Fat Girl Rule you learn hurts the most, a startling, scorpion-stinging soul slap. xa0 Something’s changed, but you don’t know what. You replay the moment in your mind from every possible angle, trying to understand why. Why the rules exist and who. Who came up with them and how. How does anyone have the right to tell you how to live just because of your weight? xa0 Mostly, you remember the smack of the change. One minute you were like everybody else, playing around, enjoying life, and then, with the flip of an unseen cosmic switch, you’re the fat girl, stumbling, trying to regain your balance. Acting as if you know what you’re doing, like when you used to play dress-up and tried to walk in high-heeled shoes. THE GIFT Every time I see a pudgy preschooler, I want to hand her my list, like the answer sheet for a test, to spare her the pain of learning the rules firsthand. xa0 But instead, I give each girl the gift of more days, weeks, and months of a normal life. xa0 Whatever that is. BELLIES DANCING Viv’s mom caught her dad with another woman and said Texas wasn’t big enough for the three of them. So now my best friend has to move to Indiana. xa0 In my backyard, we livestream the Latin Music Festival on an outdoor screen as part of her going-away party. xa0 Viv starts belly dancing like she learned in a class at the Dallas Public Library, where her mom was a librarian. I follow her lead and our arms morph into snakes as our hips figure-eight. xa0 My dog, Gigi, a pug, runs circles around us as we sing at the top of our lungs along with the bands and dance with complete abandon, like you do when you’re alone in your room trying out some new moves or making up some of your own. xa0 Except it turns out we’re not alone. THE NEW NEIGHBOR Mid-twirl, I open my eyes to see a girl’s head pop up over the fence, then disappear and reappear. xa0 This trampoline girl saw me shake parts of me I didn’t even know I had. xa0 “What do you think you’re doing?” I stop dancing so fast I about give myself whiplash. xa0 I see her head again. “IheardDíasDivertidos.” She says it so quickly it’s like one word. She disappears and reappears. “Couldn’thelpmyself.” In a flash, she climbs over the fence and lands in front of me. “I’m Catalina Rodriguez.” A POET AND A MUSICIAN Catalina points to the concert on the screen. “Wow! So you like Días Divertidos, too? I have all their songs on my playlist.” xa0 “Me too,” I say. xa0 “Who else do you listen to?” xa0 “Don’t get Ellie started.” Viv rolls her eyes. If eye-rolling were an Olympic sport, she’d be a gold medalist. xa0 “I’m a poet, so I love music because lyrics are sung poems,” I say. “Rap and country are my faves.” xa0 “I’m a guitarist,” Catalina says. “I like all music but love Latin.” xa0 She chooses her words carefully, like me. But she’s not like me. Catalina’s skinny like a pancake. I’m more like a three-tiered cake. xa0 My fatdar should be sounding the alarm. Why isn’t it? THE THING ABOUT FATDAR Fatdar is a lot like Spider-Man’s Spidey sense, a sixth sense. xa0 Somehow we just know when someone’s about to say something hurtful or do something mean. xa0 Even in a crowd, I can spot a fatphobe, someone who’s grossed out by overweight people. Fatphobes give off this vibe. Part discomfort. Part shock. Part fear. Part anger. xa0 And all hatred. SHADOWS “ ‘Baila conmigo’!” Catalina shouts as the next song starts and she dances with us. xa0 “Teach me that one move, Ellie,” she says. “Which one?” “The one where you were kinda kicking your leg while you spun.” xa0 When I dance knowing Catalina’s watching, I feel every pound of my legs, see my fat shake, and notice how round my shadow on the grass is next to her angles, so I stop. xa0 Fat Girl Rule: Move slowly so your fat doesn’t jiggle, drawing attention to your body. But that uncomfortable-in-my-own-skin feeling fades as the music blares and Catalina squeal-screams, going all bananas with us, during the tribute to Selena. xa0 If dance partners were food, Catalina and I would be peanut butter and jelly. Cookies and milk. Chips and salsa. We’re different, but make a perfect combo, heads, hips, and hands moving in sync. xa0 Right on cue as the sun sets, the katydids start their singing, fast and furious since their tempo’s based on heat or maybe Selena’s bidi-bidi-bom-bom beat. xa0 “Catalina, dale las buenas noches y ven a casa,” a woman’s voice calls out. “Gotta go,” Catalina tells us. “Thanks for letting me crash your party.” xa0 She climbs back over the fence, then trampolines. “Can’twaittocomeoveragain.” Read more