Starfish

STARFISH is a middle-grade verse novel about Ellie, a girl with a big problem. Because of her weight, many people feel Ellie is fair game for teasing, ridiculing, and bullying. Yet Ellie has true friends who love her and care about her no matter how she looks. Are loyal friendships enough to get a girl through a mean, fat-shaming world?

I LOVED this novel. Everything about it is thoughtful, careful, and kind — which is to say, it walks its talk. Ellie is a poet, a lover of words and music. She is also a girl with finely tuned “fatdar”: her awareness of people all too willing to remind her how to manage herself: “No making waves. / You don’t deserve / to be seen or heard / to take up room, / to be noticed. / Make yourself show more small.” The novel’s verse is finely balanced; even readers who don’t normally enjoy verse novels shouldn’t mind this one, and readers who prefer verse novels will love the poetic flourishes here.

Ellie is unquestionably the star of this novel. The plot is a relationship-based growth arc. Ellie is surrounded by friends and bullies, and her task is to affirm “I’m not a whale. / I’m Ellie” — no small feat when her bullies include her own family members. But Ellie is bright, caring, determined, and fabulous; she refuses to follow the conform-lose-weight-and-be-ordinary path. With the help of her friends and a compassionate therapist, she will find her own way. I was cheering for Ellie on every page, even while I was crying for the cruelty she experiences. We need more starfish in this world. We need more Ellies.

Without question, STARFISH is one of the best middle-grade books I’ve read this year. I was utterly overwhelmed by how beautifully told the story is — and by how badly needed books like this are. Brava, Lisa Fipps, for writing this gorgeous book. show less

Where was this book when I was a child. As a 46-year-old woman I am all in my feels about a book that makes me 11 again. I am lucky that I did not have Ellie‘s mother, but my aunt and my grandmother were just like her. Ellie is a girl who is not small. She’s been big all her life. She’s been picked on by people at school, people in neighborhood, and even her mother. This constant referring of “you could be pretty if you lost weight”. “Your problems are your own because you’re fat”.” We could love you and like you more if you weren’t big”. If you have a big girl in your life they need this book. Whether they’re two years old or 102 years old. This novel in free verse is written with love and compassion and hope show more and bravery. The best thing about this book is how happy it leaves you feeling at the end. Happy and knowing that Ellie will most likely be OK. Because she’s learned to stand up for herself. She learns to let others know that their behavior affects more than just them. I loved Ellie in the story. I understand the idea of star fishing and just floating. At age 11, I was in Alaska and the pool was my best friend. So much to not only like but to love about this book no matter your age, no matter your size. It moves quickly, so quickly that you’re done before you had a chance to fully live out the message in the pages. I love everything about this book and it will probably be one of my favorite books of the year. show less

"Does everybody
make somebody
feel like a nobody?"

Using humor and a huge dose of heart, Lisa Fipps bestows on us this wonderfully powerful novel in verse about Ellie, a middle schooler bullied (worst of all, by her mom) for her weight.

There is so much to love in here that I don't know where to start putting my thought to the page. I love Ellie's quiet strength as she fights to learn how to defend herself. I want to hug her close and shield her from all her mom's venom and her classmates' taunts, but there's such a great message for kids to learn how to stand up for themselves in a positive way. Also for adult readers--our words and actions, and indeed our inactions, can have a huge impact.

I also really like the overall message of show more acceptance. It's not just a book about a girl struggling with her weight, but other ways we look down on and stereotype people. And hopefully it will help readers be kinder to one another.

As far as technical things go, the format is great. As a novel in verse, Fipps sets a new scene on just about every page with its own separate poem. It makes for an easily digestible story that would be great for struggling or reluctant readers. show less

Like It Was Written for Me

This is a book that I needed growing up. This beautiful book, written in my favorite format of verse, needs to be in the hands of all middle grade readers and their caregivers as I know it will change lives and open hearts and minds.

I loved Ellie; she feels like a close friend of mine as the author let her readers get to know an authentic eleven-year-old girl who suffers from bullying from peers as well as from strangers, including adults and her own mother. I enjoyed the family dramas and relationships and how they evolved and strengthened over the plot arc. The character growth in Ellie, her siblings, and parents was well-paced and believable.

My favorite adult character in this book is Ellie's therapist Dr. show more Wood, AKA Doc. She was born to help children like Ellie--her patience and willingness to listen are admirable.

This book will give all readers insight into how to handle bullying without becoming a bully yourself. I closed the book with renewed hope that other readers will also realize you can learn to love yourself despite what others say, think, or do and that everyone deserves to be treated as a human being, no matter what.

This book is one that made me think about my own life and how I treat myself and how I treat others. It gave me new tools to use daily in for my thoughts, spoken words, and actions. Most importantly, it made me see myself and gave me new hope. show less

5.0

A rare five stars. This book should be on every middle grade reading list!

This was so powerful and hit so close to home. This book does a great job of highlighting the power of not just words, but friendship, a support system, and finding your inner voice. A must read for any fat girl who feels like they will never fit, and any parent raising an overweight child. This is also an important book for a world that loves to reduce people to thier skin and makes them ashamed of existing, the bullies, the harsh doctors, and those that may consider themselves "well meaning."

Ellie has always struggled with her weight -- but it's been less about her fat to her and more about how people perceive her as nothing more than a large body, with no heart, feelings, brain, or thoughts. And one of the most painful parts is how it's not just her schoolmates who bully her, but her own mother who harps on her weight the most. Finally, her father recommends that Ellie starts seeing a therapist and she finds the words and actions to stand up and defend herself against the hurt others try to cause her.

This book was such an emotional roller coaster. Ellie could be both perceptive and sarcastic, resulting in moments of wry humor. Her genuine kindness allows her to make friends with those with true hearts who don't judge her, show more allowing for very touching moments. But when others, particularly her awful mother, unrelentingly mock her, it's so deeply upsetting. I found myself close to tears a few times in this book as Ellie evokes all your empathy as a reader. And when Ellie finds ways to express herself, it's such a feeling of satisfaction to see her be able to take a stand against those who want to bully her.

The novel is written in verse, which is easily justified because Ellie views herself as a poetic writer and the whole narrative is told in first-person point-of-view. But it's also free verse, so it reads more like a prose story than a bunch of obscure poems that the reader has to try to piece together and weave a plot from those pieces. It reads quickly as a result of these short poem-chapters and frankly, the story and its characters are so engaging that you won't want to put it down. If anything, my only real complaint with it was I felt it ended too soon as I wanted to see what happens next and learn more about some of the ancillary characters.

Speaking of characters, this book is full of diversity. Ellie's family is half Jewish/half Christian, her new next-door neighbors are Mexican-American, and Ellie observes how one of her bullies is himself bullied because he lives in relative poverty. In many ways, this book will tug on the reader's heartstrings, force them to look at how they treat others and how they stand up for others who are being treated poorly, and elicit all kinds of sympathy. show less

The topic is a hard and toxic one, and this book takes it on without flinching. For me, the verse format made it easier to confront the awful way that Ellie's family and school treats her. I loved that she had great friends. I loved that she had access to water. I loved the teachers and librarian who helped her, and I loved that this book has a therapist -- even knowing what therapy could be like and some techniques to take power back is going to help a lot of readers. I wonder why it took her dad so long to become an ally, but it was good to see Ellie come into her own and challenge her bullies.