When Ali Valenzuela was 14,she started to exercise obsessively and limit her food intake - all following an incident which completely undermined her self-confidence. By the time she was 18 - and sitting A-level exams - her weight had fallen below 40kg (less than 6 stone) and was on the brink of death. At that point she was admitted to hospital,but had to be sent to a private hospital in Bristol as there were no appropriate facilities nearer home (Swansea). She spent 3 months there - although her local health authority would guarantee funding for only 6 weeks at a time.
Since she left hospital,Ali has got involved in campaigning for proper facilities for treating eating disorders,has been doing temp jobs,and has a place at university when she is strong enough to take it up. Ali has written this book,based on her own diaries,because:
'I want people to understand that there is more to anorexia than looking thin; this is an illness that will destroy the lives of the sufferer and all who care for the sufferer,and the thin appearance is only a physical outcome of the pain and torment that goes on inside.'Unlike a lot of sufferers,I feel open to talk about my experience,as I feel it may help other people and I feel it helps me if I'm honest with myself about what I went through. I believe everything happens for a reason,and just because I went through a difficult experience,doesn't mean that something positive cannot come of it.'
Publisher: Hachette Children's GroupISBN: 9780340988404Number of pages: 256Weight: 180 gDimensions: 198 x 181 x 14 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Painfully honest,powerful and emotional...An important book for anyone involved in the life of someone suffering from what can be a terminal illness.' The Bookseller 'frank and compelling' Carousel 'The most honest diary that I ever had the priviledge to read....truly inspirational and quite life changing...a compelling account and one that I couldn't put down. It would support other sufferers but I feel other teenagers would benefit from reading such an honest and personal story.' School Librarian
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