Book details

Book description

Fifteen-year-old Johanna is in hospital, writing letters to her best friend, Issy. Jo is not allowed to leave her room, use the phone, have visitors or even was her hair. Not unless she agrees to eat. Johanna suffers from anorexia, and her condition has reached a point where doctors, nurses, and counselors have had to find new ways to encourage, bribe, cajoleà Â-or, as she thinks, punish herà Â-into returning to a normal weight. Joà  s letters and diary give us a wry an insightful look at a teenage girl in trouble. The novel is peppered with extracts from Johannaà  s diary, quotations from hospital notice boards, poems and even bathroom graffiti. Her friend Issy, on the other hand, writes cheerfully of family dramas and hassles at school; a life that Jo has left behind à  at least for now. Slowly, weà Â-and Johannaà Â-start to unravel the history that brought her to these desperate circumstances. Ità  s the story of a young girl struggling to understand her motherà  s actions, and taking on too much responsibility because of an adultà  s inability to cope; ità  s also the story of how Johanna, through witnessing the worst possible outcome of anorexia, begins to pull herself back to recovery. Sandy McKay tackles a very sober topic with a lightness of touch that neither undermines the gravity of the subject, nor skirts the most difficult truths about the condition. à  à  a deeply moving story à  as well as a heart-warming glimpse into the power of a true friendship. Powerful.à  Reading Time Sandy McKayà  s first novel, Recycledwon the Junior Fiction Award, NZ Post Childrenà  s Book Awards in 2002. The sequel Colin goes Bush, and her later books, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, My Dad, the All Black and Spiders in my Stomachhave all been highly praised and listed in the à  Most Notable Booksà  list. Sandy has held the Writers in Residence at the College of Education in Dunedin and has received writerà  s grants from Creative New Zealand.