A debut novel by author Lisa Fipps, this book tells the story of Ellie who, ever since she wore a whale swimsuit and cannon balled into a pool at her 5th birthday party, has been teased, bullied and labeled by others for her weight. Girls at school, her bother, and perhaps most impactful, her mother. Ellie does her best to cope, dodging barbs from seemingly all directions as she tries simply to be a middle school-age girl, doing things young teens do as they grow up. She finds refuge in the pool, where she feels weightless in a weight-obsessed world. In the water, she can take up all the space she wants, like a starfish!
Starfish follows Ellie from being a victim to finding her voice, with ALL of her bullies. It is a wonderful book, written in verse, and author Fipps writes at the end of the story that even though the attacks Ellie survives seem over the top, that she writes this story from experience, which makes the book all the more impactful.
I read a lot of books, especially for a pug, and a lot of books show me lives different from my own. Those other lives and experiences can be because of race (Kwame Alexander), gender (Melissa, Lily and Dunkin), physical appearance (Wonder), and many other factors. I don't recall reading many (any?) books where weight issues take the stage, but Starfish leads the pack of well-written books tackling this issue. Read this, it is an important story! 5 paws!
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