SOLVED. Story about 2 teens one with bulimia and other anorexic [s]

[Anne]

Hi, so this is a long shot because I only vaguely remember the story but here we go:

It's the story of a teen with bulimia (or maybe just anorexia but she binged and purged) that has been put in an eating disorder centre. She doesn't understand why because she thinks she is fat. She meets a girl there who is anorexic. They become friends. They give themselves tricks to fool the people into thinking they gain weight. Both wants to escape from the centres.

I remember at some point they had an assembly where they saw like their bodies without their faces and it was to show them that they were not fat.

(potential spoiler)
I think at some point they escape and the main character binges on chocolate and when she goes to vomit she ends up passing out and this freaks out her friend.
(end of potential spoiler)

I read the book in like 2005. It seemed like a book from the 1980s or 90s. There was no romance in the book at all.

[Marie]

This was obligatory reading material when I was in high school but I don't remember the title. Some more details that I remember to help:

(view spoiler)[

The two girls went to school together. The main character is the one with bulimia and the story is told from her perspective. She was envious of a super skinny classmate she didn't know well. They both end up at the centre together and become friends there. They never interacted much before except for one time where they busted each other in the school bathroom: one for throwing away her lunch and the other for vomiting hers.

The one with anorexia usually controlled her weight by doing way too much sports, so she would mask her habit pretty well because being sporty isn't automatically an anorexia red flag.

There was an exercise at the centre where the girls were photographed and then had to choose a picture of the body-type they saw themselves as. Their photos would be put side by side with the body-type image, to make them realise that they have an unrealistic view of themselves.

At one point, they escape and the one with anorexia goes to vomit. Her bile burns through her throat or something and there's blood. She ends up being hospitalised. That is the wake up call the bulimic main character needed to change her habits. (hide spoiler)]

[Andria]

A few possibilities:

Perfect

Second Star to the Right

The Best Little Girl in the World

Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia

[Marie]

I think it might be Perfect by Natasha Friend

[bookel]

Please Don't Go (Sweet Goodbyes)
by Katherine Applegate
Zibby - sees herself as a self conscious, eighteen stone (114kg) giant, invisible to boys and obsessed with food.
Lauren - is little Ms Perfect from Zibby's school, the one who can do no wrong - until she deliberately stops eating.
One won't eat and the other won't stop. Can they help each other to get well again?
http://www.librarything.com/work/9626...

[Anne]

Marie wrote: "This was obligatory reading material when I was in high school but I don't remember the title. Some more details that I remember to help:



The two girls went to school together. The main charact..."

Omg this is actually the book. Wow I realize I forgot so many of the important details. But the last part I remember so it is the right book.
Thank you!

[Anne]

Marie wrote: "I think it might be Perfect by Natasha Friend"

So I just read the synopsis of Perfect and a bunch of summaries of it and sadly it's not the right book. But the one you summarized is the right one, so I think you're mixing up two books.

I do remember the last 2 paragraphs happening in the novel I read.

[Marie]

Actually, the name Zibby sounds familiar so instead of Perfect, it might be bookel's suggestion

[Anne]

Andria wrote: "A few possibilities:

Perfect

Second Star to the Right

The Best Little Girl in the World

Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia"

It's none of these books sadly :(

[Anne]

bookel wrote: "Please Don't Go (Sweet Goodbyes)
by Katherine Applegate
Zibby - sees herself as a self conscious, eighteen stone (114kg) giant, invisible to boys and obsessed with food.
Lauren - is little Ms Perfe..."

For some reason I cannot find this book by this author. I can only find Please Don't Go by Elizabeth Benning. The cover really seems familiar so I think it might be this book, but I can't seem to find a detailed summary of it online.

I'll research a bit more and let you know :)

[Anne]

bookel wrote: "Please Don't Go (Sweet Goodbyes)
by Katherine Applegate
Zibby - sees herself as a self conscious, eighteen stone (114kg) giant, invisible to boys and obsessed with food.
Lauren - is little Ms Perfe..."

So I read more about it, and it is the right book. Thank you so much!

[Andria]

Here is the Goodreads link: Please Don't Go.

Glad you found your book!

[bookel]

It is the same book. Elizabeth Benning is an alternate name that and others were published under, as far as I could tell when researching a few years ago. Just to confuse people! There's several alternate covers. See Google Images.

[Miss Mara]

Damn I was going to say it sounded like Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51...) but you've already found it lol

[Anne]

Rebecca wrote: "Damn I was going to say it sounded like Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51...) but you've already found it lol"

I might read it if it's similar since i liked Please Don't Go.