O! what Man will do fore a Rime!

3/16/89

I'm so miserable I can't even think straight. I hate everything. I hate my parents. I hate the way I look. I am so fat. I started these classes to become a lifeguard and I can barely get through the classes because I'm so distracted by how bad I look in a bathing suit. I can't even believe I'm allowing anybody to see me in these ugly suits with all my fat sticking out everywhere. I wouldn't go through this if I didn't want to teach swimming so bad.

- Excerpt from Tara's Diary

p. 52-53

Note: The review below was taken directly from my Goodreads account.

This book seems like it's about a daughter with anorexia-bulimia, a mother who's oblivious to it and how they overcome her eating disorder. I thought the diary entries revealed more of how parents really don't know how/what adolescents feel/do. It never fails to amaze me that there is such a huge disconnect between the majority of teenagers and their parents (me and my own parents are no exception).

I'm glad Tara Rio was able to get help for her eating disorders. It always makes me sad when young women and men have such low self-esteem that they violently hate their bodies enough to (sometimes permanently) damage themselves. I hope other adolescents and young adults can get the help they need, too.