Fiction, YA, Mystery (Note: trigger – anorexia)
5*****
For Gabby Patterson, a dedicated but sometimes obsessive cross-country runner, junior year is her time to shine. She has to start thinking about the future college recruiters and scholarship offers. But today means beating her impossibly skinny rivals any way she can. Then eerie encounters in the woods and a cute secretive guy with the same quirky musical tastes interfere with Gabby’s plans. Sweet CJ is connected to the forest mystery and to what’s happening to Gabby. But hard truths aren’t that easy to run from…
THOUGHTS: This was written in first person/(mostly) present tense so you feel like you are really there with Gabby as everything is happening. Gabby is sixteen years old, in her junior year of high school, and a very intense cross-country runner. She is also 5’11” tall and obsessed with being as small as some of the other runners. Since she can’t do anything about her height, she goes about controlling what she eats so she can be the same weight as them. Which means she is basically starving herself. Though her parents, coaches, and friends are concerned, especially when she starts passing out at meets, she goes through the book denying that anything is wrong.
Until the ghost of her new boyfriend’s sister starts haunting her, especially when she passes a certain spot in the woods – then she finds out that’s where the girl died. Though it was ruled a suicide, Gabby is certain something else happened and goes about trying to prove it. All while trying to qualify for Districts/Regionals/States.
This is a really sweet YA story that shows all the angst teens go through bullying, trying to fit in, to be the best at something, to date, etc. It also shows how all that angst can lead to serious food issues, especially in female athletes. I especially appreciated how by the end of the story, Gabby got help (thanks to the ghost’s diary). And the mystery surrounding Hailey’s death (the ghost) comes to light. So a very satisfying ending.
Recommended.
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