Book Review: The Young Adult Series

This is the final book in the trilogy of young adult books I've opted to review.  As I mentioned, I picked them up for my niece, who just turned thirteen.  I am going to leave them in my old bedroom, as she often stays with my mother.  Maybe she'll read them and bring up the topics.

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"Letting Ana Go" is another of the Anonymous series.  This book covers eating disorders and recounts the journalist's quest to drop weight.  It is a mission that very quickly  gets out of hand.  My earlier book reviews looked at teenage drug usage and having a friend with mental illness.   Frankly, I have detected a definite pattern at this point, as this novel follows practically the same format as one of the books I previously reviewed (Lucy in the Sky).  That novel  seemed to mirror the classic "Go Ask Alice."  Both books feature a diary format, a hot boyfriend,  and using either food or drugs to cope with issues.  Both have a scene which forces the supposed writer of the journal into therapy.  There is the inevitable relapse and both have the same ending.

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I have read the reviews on various sites  and the younger readers give it good marks.   It seems to be this generation's "Best Little Girl in the World."  For those unfamiliar with that book, it was the first mass market release to address anorexia and was written by a therapist.  It was subsequently made into a television movie starring Jennifer Jason Leigh.  It continues to sell very well.
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There are some very good insights offered  in this book.  There are a few sentences that sum up exactly what drives eating disorders.  In a scene with her therapist, the professional makes the point that people with eating disorders use their body to tell the world that something is wrong.    Professional help  can offer an alternative mechanism  and give actual voice to those feelings.  The therapist then goes on to state the following:

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"Remember, not eating, starving yourself, over exercise, those things aren't the problem.  Those things are a symptom of the real problem.  That's what you're here to figure out.  What is the real problem?  Once you know, we'll find other ways for you to deal with it that don't involve hurting yourself."

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This book is easy to read and makes its point in a way that people in that age group can pick up the important, pertinent details without a problem.   It underscores why early help is important without being lecturing about it. Even though this novel doesn't have the flow of language that a work such as "Wasted" may hold, this is what's appreciated at this grade level.   I can still recall reading "Go Ask Alice" in elementary school and grasping its message. That book also contained sexual content and despite the fact that it is a work that often found itself on the banned books list, it never warped me or any of my friends.  Teens of this age can handle it.   Some parents might not like the brief sexual talk, but that is the reality of life today.  I've got no problem at all with allowing a teenager to read this.  I want to allow for any segue at all for introducing talk and sometimes, it's easiest if it's in the realm of "I know somebody like the person in the book."
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So, onto my old book shelf it goes.