We all are different, and we have our own challenges. But everyone has something special in them. Like a trait, an ability, or more. While reading Starfish by Lisa Fipps, I got to know more about the main character, Ellie. She is an overweight eleven-year-old girl who has carried the offensive name “Splash” due to an incident on her fifth birthday. She suffers bullying from almost everyone, both in private and public. Her mother keeps reminding her that she needs to lose weight and even suggests that she needs bariatric surgery, but her dad is very understanding. Ellie suffers from low self-esteem, poor body image, and severe bullying from family members and classmates, she is also called names like “Whale”, “Blubber Belly”, “Chubby” and “Splash”. She has a therapist who helps her deal with her complicated emotions. Ellie talks about fat girl rules throughout the book, where she discusses things that an overweight girl shouldn’t do. The trouble gets worse when her best friend moves away to Indiana. But then, a new girl moves to her neighborhood, who is not quick to judge her for her looks and becomes a friend. She finds a supportive friend, Catalina, a Hispanic girl. At the end of the story, Ellie isn’t alone and has people like her sister and her friend, Catalina, to support her. Will Ellie find the courage to stand up against the bullies and the people who judge her because of her size?
This book is very inspiring to young girls like Ellie, who suffer bullying and emotional distress due to low self-esteem and body image. I enjoyed reading this book as it taught important life lessons and showed that bullying and judging people is not ok. Reading this book, I could understand the trauma that kids like Ellie go through. Today I feel more empathetic to this issue. I enjoyed reading this book which is written in verse and has lots of humor. It felt like I was reading Ellie’s diary. I didn’t even realize that I had read this book within one day.
I can tell that this book is very popular because there is a long wait for this book in our library. As I was impatient to read this book, my mom ordered it on Amazon. I highly recommend this book to all middle-grade readers. Please order it today!
Here is a quote from the book that I really liked.
“The higher my weight, the lower my value, True, positive thought: A scale does not determine my worth”