SOLVED. YA Contemporary - Opens with Female Protagonist who is a Cheerleader with a Controlling Mother who Weighs Her Every Morning/Evening. [s]

[Shandra]

I picked this book up last month -June 2018- in the YA section of a used bookstore and read the opening, but we were in a hurry which resulted in my placing the book back on the shelf and leaving without it. Now I'd love to buy it because I'm intrigued by the concept.

It opens with a high school girl who is being weighed as part of a morning -and evidently evening- ritual with her mother. She has to weigh under 100 pounds because she's a cheerleader who is the top of the pyramid; her mother uses an app on her phone to track her weight which the protagonist also has access to the results of so she can see how she's "succeeding" or "failing."

Her mother is obviously very controlling, verbally and emotionally abusive, and seems to have serious issues of her own she's projecting onto her daughter while her daughter wishes she could be as "naturally perfect" as her mother who doesn't have to constantly monitor her weight to be the "perfect size" and her mother is also mentioned to be an avid gym/athletic facility user who enjoys physical fitness courses for fun.

The daughter is expected to use stool softeners and diuretics as well as potentially something like ipecac which causes vomiting in order to make sure she can get down to weight appropriately very quickly. She acts as if this is a normal thing/part of her regular routine though she seems to hate it. She's also on a strict diet of under (I think) 500 calories a day so her mother encourages her to bring her water bottle to keep herself feeling "full" during the day while she's only allowed a small bag of carrots to eat throughout the whole day since she "failed" weigh-in for the morning and was not allowed breakfast as a result.

The girl obviously falls into the anorexia category so eating disorders play a role in it. It's contemporary. I'm sure -based on when I picked it up and the language/references- it couldn't be older than 2012 in publication date. I'd imagine it's a more recent release than that. I also seem to remember the protagonist got dizzy from hunger and passed out or almost passed out which was routine for her. She was fixated on being the top of the pyramid/under 100 pounds and possibly a flyer on the cheerleader squad.

I can't remember anything else at the present time. I know I've been looking for it for a month now with no luck since apparently there's a lot of books about cheerleaders with eating disorders? Thanks in advance for any help!

[Andria]

Massive, maybe?

[Shandra]

Andria wrote: "Massive, maybe?"

No. It’s set in America as all the measurements are in pounds and the opening focus is very much on the girl’s position on the cheer squad.

That does sound like a great book though so thanks for the suggestion!

[Rachel]

Possibly Dare Me by Megan Abbott?

[Shandra]

Rachel wrote: "Possibly Dare Me by Megan Abbott?"

I read the first bit of it on Amazon and it's not the book I had started. It's really good all the same! I have read another by the same author which I enjoyed so I'm glad you linked this one.

[Rachel]

Ah well, at least you got a book recommendation! Hope you find the actual book soon.

[Shandra]

I'm still looking for this book. I remember the girl was thinking she needed to drink her water in even measurements to the few carrots she was allowed throughout the day in order to keep from passing out. She was slowly chewing a carrot into mush when she started to lose consciousness and thought basically "Oh no, not again." yet she wasn't scared. She was totally focused on keeping below 100 pounds for her "perfect" weight as the flyer on the cheerleading team.

I think her mother was named Lisa.

[Jessica]

I really hope you find the book you're looking for, the premise alone sounds so interesting. It might be on this list, all of these books have something to do with eating disorders. Keep us posted.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

[Shandra]

I went through the list of eating disorders books and it's not in there. I honestly had no idea there were quite so many out there; it's interesting to note there are more than a few which feature a male protagonist who is dealing with the issue.

Thanks for the link! I'm hoping I'll find this book eventually.

[Liralen]

Maybe Life Unaware? I haven't read it, but the summary mentions an overbearing mother.

[Shandra]

FOUND: Three Times the Charm