Twenty-six year old Gray is beautiful, intelligent and thin…at least to the outside world. For as long as she’s know she’s counted calories, cut meals in half, hardly ever ordered desert and has constantly been mindful of the things she puts in her mouth. After her father’s death and subsequent discovery of a half-sister, Eden, she never knew existed she’s thrown it all out the window gorging herself on whatever falls within her sites. To overcome her inner-demons and hopefully connect with a piece of herself she’s never known Gray signs on to be a camp counselor at the weight-loss camp her new half-sister is attending for the summer. What happens from that point on is a journey downhill and back up again as Gray attempts to correct a wrong she feels responsible for.

Who among us hasn’t struggled with our weight at some point? Not just those who struggle to lose those last few pounds to get into the summer bikini, but I’m talking about losing pounds and possibly even gaining some. It’s a struggle that seems to touch all of us, female and male. It seeps it’s way into our veins through every form of media available and in other ways we never would have thought we’d worry about. Even my own father who grew up the son of a hard working farmer struggles with weight issues after years of being told to finish the food on his plate for fear of starving children in the world. We’re taught to use food as a suppressant for life’s woe’s and in reward for it’s victories. So, how do we fix it? Or even better, how do you learn to accept who you are no matter your size and instead learn to face your problems head on without coping mechanisms like food? This is what Skinny boils down to, a story of a girl, Gray, who’s looking for comfort and forgiveness but can only manage to fill it with piles upon piles of food.

This was actually kind of a tough read for me. When I first heard about it I was dieing to read it, but after a few pages in and nodding at the text like a fool I couldn’t help but be introspective no matter how light much of it was. Spechler’s characters are real. I think some will be offended by many of Gray’s opinions of “fat” people, but in all reality she’s not much different than many people in the world. Gray was constantly on the outside looking in, never really considering herself “fat” and always looking to her own father to fill that roll. Now in a camp surrounded by teens with eating disorders she fills the pages with her inner monologue about who is and what makes a person really fat. It’s only with time, some serious reflection and traumatic events that she matures in her opinions. It actually took watching the book trailer again for me to come to terms with my feelings on the book, which for me is unusual because I’m not usually a huge fan of book trailers, but I’d encourage taking a look at this one:

(See author's site: http://www.goodreads.com/videos/list_...)

There are definitely moments of fun, Chick Lit type buoyancy throughout Skinny, but at it’s heart it’s filled with characters who embody the problems we face as society on a whole. Diana Spechler’s most recent novel is one that will have you questioning your actions. Regardless of your size I believe most readers will enjoy not only Spechler’s writing style, but the issues she brings up. It’s almost as if to change the old saying, “You are what you eat” by adding to the end of it, “…then what are you shoving away that you don’t want seen?” We all struggle, some struggles are manifested by bingeing others by abstaining others don’t even bother with food at all and go straight to often more harmful ways to suppress those issues we want to disappear. Skinny is about learning to come to grips with those issues, face them head on and do our best to stay above water. A powerful and incredibly moving love story that I’ll be thinking about for some time to come.