Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

It’s proving a more formidable foe than I had hoped, folks. Still, I have at least ONE more review in me, so here goes…

Jen Petro-Roy’s Good Enough was the latest read-aloud for my 14YO and me–not that I’ve reviewed the book we read together before it. (I don’t want to talk about it.) I was a bit surprised that she picked it over the other choices I gave her–it had the potential to be sadder than she prefers–and she was worried after our first session about just how sad it was, but by our second or third bout of reading, she was completely hooked.

Honestly, so was I.

We meet Riley as she checks into the hospital for an anorexia recovery program; she is (not surprisingly) angry and defensive and unhappy. Experiencing her recovery with her was an interesting experience, especially compared to the last novel I read about an anorexic in recovery; being twelve, Riley acclimates, adapts, and transitions into recovery far more quickly than Anna, the married main character of The Girls at 17 Swann Street. She does, however, have to deal with parental frustrations and school difficulties that make her looming discharge scary in different ways. Thankfully, amid rallying friends and growing skills Riley’s stay ends on a hopeful note, which (together with the occasional laugh-out-loud thought that apparently characterizes Petro-Roy’s heroines) makes Good Enough a satisfying read; the most important thing about the book, however, is the message of the title itself. Our girls are growing up in a terrifying world, and unless we can teach them how beautiful and perfectly imperfect each one of them is, we risk losing them. (This is why I [with limited exceptions] oppose cosmetic surgery.) The beauty of Riley’s journey lies, more than anything else, in watching her fight towards that conclusion.

If you are or have a teenage girl, don’t miss this one.