Second Star to the Right (1981), a young adult contemporary novel by Deborah Hautzig, follows what happens when a teenage girl develops anorexia after a bout of stomach flu, and the trouble she has recovering from this illness. Nominated for the 1982 National Book Award, Second Star to the Right received a positive critical reception. Best known for adapting classic stories such as The Secret Garden and The Little Mermaid for modern audiences, Hautzig writes books for children and teenagers. Second Star to the Right is based on Hautzig’s own battle with anorexia. Fourteen-year-old girl Leslie Hiller lives in New York City with her wealthy parents. Adept at making new friends, Cavett is her best friend. Leslie doesn’t know what it’s like to fail at anything, whether sports, academics, or relationships. A perfectionist by nature, her parents encourage her to reach her full potential—even if her behavior sometimes borders on obsessive. Although Leslie seemingly has it all, there is something missing in her life. She longs to be thinner and more attractive. She is convinced that if she can lose a few pounds, she will be even more popular and life will be better. Cavett tells her that she is beautiful already, but if she wants to lose weight, she should. One day, Leslie gets sick with stomach flu. She can’t keep food down for a few days, and she loses weight. Leslie realizes that if she doesn’t eat anything, she will lose weight. She doesn’t consider whether it is healthy to stop eating; she wants to reach her new goal weight of 105 pounds. Once she hits 105 pounds, she will eat properly again, and everything will go back to normal. Leslie wonders how she can stop eating without anyone noticing. Deep down, she knows that restricting her food intake isn’t healthy, but more importantly, she doesn’t want anyone to stand in the way of her goal by making her eat. She decides that skipping breakfast is an easy first step to take. Pretending to eat breakfast, she leaves a lot of it behind. Her parents assume she is stressed about school and her appetite hasn’t recovered from her illness yet. Leslie’s mother gives her a packed lunch every morning to take to school. She takes the food, planning to throw it away when no one is looking. At first, she tells Cavett that she forgot her lunch, and then she starts saying she doesn’t have much of an appetite. Cavett thinks it is odd but she doesn’t realize that it’s a problem yet. The hardest meal to skip is dinner. She eats as little as possible, but she knows that her parents will eventually notice that she’s not eating. If she could just hit her goal weight, she could eat properly again. To accelerate her weight loss, she exercises more. She does hundreds of sit-ups a day and she can’t sit still. One day, Leslie hits 105 pounds. The trouble is that Leslie doesn’t want to eat normally. She is convinced that she is fat and that 105 pounds isn’t good enough. She is terrified to eat anything in case she puts on weight. By now, Leslie’s parents realize that something is not right. Cavett worries about her, too, but no one can get through to her. Leslie’s weight loss takes over her whole life. She cannot sleep or focus at school, and she doesn’t look healthy. Everyone urges her to eat but she can’t face it. Soon, she is so thin that she can’t walk properly or climb stairs without feeling short of breath. She can’t sit through a full school day. Her parents decide that enough is enough—she needs help. Despite Leslie’s protests, her parents take her to the doctor. The doctor says that she is severely underweight and requires hospitalization. If she doesn’t get nutrients into her system soon, she could die. Leslie doesn’t want to hear it. Still convinced that she is fat, she doesn’t see that she has an eating disorder. The hospital staff doesn’t know how to treat Leslie. They still don’t formally recognize anorexia as an illness, and they don’t have the skills to treat it. When Leslie’s doesn’t get any better, her parents pull her out of the hospital, finding her a special hospital dedicated to helping girls with eating disorders. If anyone can help her, it’s the doctor here. Leslie meets other girls who suffer from anorexia and bulimia. She sees that she might have a problem after all. It will be a long road to recovery, but Leslie decides that she wants to get well. The book ends on a hopeful note, and Hautzig includes a short afterword describing her own experience with anorexia.

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Deborah Hautzig

Middle grade

Novel

Fiction

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