The Obvious Game by Rita Arens (Review)

Synopsis:
“Everyone trusted me back then. Good old, dependable Diana. Which is why most people didn’t notice at first.”

"Your shirt is yellow."
"Your eyes are blue."
"You have to stop running away from your problems."
"You're too skinny."

Fifteen-year-old Diana Keller accidentally begins teaching The Obvious Game to new kid Jesse on his sixteenth birthday. As their relationship deepens, Diana avoids Jesse's past with her own secrets -- which she'll protect at any cost.

My thoughts:
Wow. This is such a powerful story. Diana is fifteen, and she hates herself. She thinks she's fat and unworthy of love, unworthy of happiness. Then she meets Jesse. She falls for him hard and while he trains for wrestling, she starts a diet that turns her into a skeleton. She's sick. But she doesn't want to stop because her weight is the only thing she feels she can control in her life. Her mother has cancer and her treatments are sending her on a roller coaster ride that Diana is afraid will lead to her death. 

Diana's thoughts about herself are scary. They ripped at my heart. I cried for her. I cried for her mother. The pain Diana feels comes right through the pages, and I wanted nothing more than to get her help. She became that real to me. I've known people with eating disorders. I've known people who've watched loved ones suffer from cancer. The two are so powerfully woven together in this story.

This is one of those stories that every teen girl should read. It's a warning because it's so real. 

Just for fun:
It seems odd to have a "Just for fun" section for a book like this, but the story is called The Obvious Game because Diana loves to play a game where all you do is state the obvious. I'm going to start.  

Books are powerful.

Now it's your turn.