Nothing by Robin Friedman

"Sometimes trees can look healthy on the outside, but actually be dying on the inside. These trees fall unexpectedly during a storm."

That has to be the shortest yet most descriptive title of any of the books I've reviewed to date. I was drawn to this novel because it's out of the ordinary. It tells a, fictional, story about an adolescent boys struggle with bulimia. Although the story is fictional, the facts are not. Males can suffer with eating disorders whether it be bulimi, anorexia or overeating. Robin combined a great amount of real things teens suffer with namely sibling rivalry, college, first love, and of course the eating disorders.

I feel this is a book teens would love to read because it has a great flow. This YA novel reads almost like a journal, flipping between the two main character's: Parker and his sister Danielle. Older readers may look back on their life and find that maybe they wish to go back in time and be more active in their teen years, I know I do! Robin, either purposefully or unknowingly, included education on eating disorders throughout the story. She informs that you don't have to suffer the disorder alone, and that you can get help. The ending was refreshingly uplifting, sad and unexpected all at equal levels. If there was one book I could recommend to teenagers with (eating) disorders it would be "Nothing."

Here are two parts from the novel that stuck with me:

"If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time."

"Who are you?
Just because you break hearts
      doesn't mean you're a heartbreaker.
Just because you get straight A's
      doesn't mean you're a success.
Just because you have a college consultant
      doesn't make you college bound.
Just because you fail to act
      doesn't make you cowardly.
Just because you need help
      doesn't make you weak.
Just because the world sees you as something
      or as nothing
doesn't mean anything
      at all."

I want to thank Robin once again for being so kind and gracious in sending me a copy of "Nothing." This book came out back in 2008. Reader's just because a book may be a few years old, or even centuries and decades, don't hesitate to give it a shot. Sometimes you will be surprised that a lot of good books are the old ones.
xoxo
Steven