My Sister's Bones

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: "My Sisters Bones" is one of those ficitonal novels that is written with such correctedness in the sypmtoms, and the feelings present in loved-ones with daughters and sisters who have eating disorders, that it's another novel that one must check continuously for the notation on the back of the spine that proclaims it as "fiction". It takes the reader on a journey through the mind of, not the patient, but the patient's sister, who knows, partially, the other sister's secret. The secret being anorexic. The book delves into the games that anorexia plays with it's glamourizaion, and it's consumption on the person that has the disorder. The book also delves into how the family feels, from denial, to the education, to the feelings during treatment. I loved this book. It's ending, though, is kind of like a pause, or a sudden stop. You are left wondering, questioning, did the sister completely recover? Is there still hope for her? You read it, and figure it out for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: As an ex-anorexic I founf this book to be very real. The best thing about it is that it tell sthe story of the anorexic from her family's point of view versus her own. Making all the "bad" aspects seem horrible versus glorified. It made me realize how my choices effected those I love! I cried, I laughed, and I read it again and again. I highly recomend this to any recovering anorexic and all of their family members. It illustrates a higher understanding!

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully poignant coming-of-age story
Review: Cathi Hanauer has beautifully taken us through the struggles of one young girl to reach adulthood and, along the way, introduced us to an intriguing cast of characters all viewed through Billie's eyes. We learn about Billie's family -- warts and all -- and come to understand her anorexic sister Cassie as Billie begins to confront many of the same burdens Cassie struggled with before her departure to college and her descent into the disease. Billie's experiences are true to life and reminiscent of adolescence and Hanauer's gifted writing style brings the story and all its characters charmingly to life. It's a simply wonderful read

Rating:
Summary: Life from a teen's point of view
Review: I enjoyed this book and I think you will too. It is not one of my favorites but I love how it tells of life from a teen's point of view. All the problems she faces and how she deals with her sister's anorexia are very interesting. She has all the problems a teen would. With boys, friends, family, and more. Hear her thoughts through this book.

Rating:
Summary: Very Touching
Review: I found this book to be a very well written insight into the family struggles with anorexia. The authour clearly knew that not just the anorexic is affected by the sickness but the whole family. I loved the way she made the characters, especially Billie the sister grow and they came to realize that the anorexia was not their fault. Overall this book is not a reference source but rather a book about growing up despite unwanted circumstances.

Rating:
Summary: a bare-bones look at life
Review: if you have a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a family, you will want to read this book. Cathi Hanauer's painstakingly accurate depiction of the heoroine's coming of age amidst a family plagued by a domineering father, submissive mother, and an anorexic-stricken sister can be understood by all readers. Rather than focusing on the traditional and often popularized aspects of anorexia, Hanauer gives us Billie, the younger adolescent sister of Cassie, a rapidly deteriorating anorexic. Through Billie, we not only experience the turmoil of adolescence, but we also share an aspect of eating disorders that are rarely depicted....the effects of the disorder as seen through the eyes of the afflicted's family. The struggles of Billie and her family are frighteningly realistic, and one only naturally wonders about Hanauer's insight. Even my sister, the younger sister of an anorexic, will agree

Rating:
Summary: Theirs no meat on these bones...
Review: My first thought on "My Sister's Bones" was a mediocer one at that, the beggining isn't really introling to the point that you can't put it down but I was determined to see it through. It does get better, after about page 80 and then its worthy of "I cant put it down" status but just when it gets intresting it goes south again and you'll find yourself wondering, "Why did I decide to read this." Cathi Hanauer's writing depicts a controdictive girl named Billie and her shaddy interpritation of her sister Cassie's anerexia. Hanauer can't seem to find her main character objectives; she wont go all the way with her boyfriend Vinnie because she's not ready but then she'll go and screw her best friends older brother in the front office of the Shell Gas Station that he works at. Billies parents were also unpleasing to read about. Her father, the surgeon, seems to know nothing about medican, while pretending to be an expert and the mother is just as lost as both her daughters. I found that I couldn't understand Cassie, or all the reasons that she became what she became, she was described as strong but couldn't manage to eat anything. The ending of this book was terrible, their was no conclusion for any of the characters. Overall Cathi Hanauer had a good idea here, telling the story of anerexia from the point of view of a family member who the desease was inflicting but she didn't go deep enough, or show a believable cast of characters to play much need emotions out that simply were not their. Much more is needed for a reader to be touched by something.

Rating:
Summary: Theirs no meat on these bones...
Review: My first thought on "My Sister's Bones" was a mediocer one at that, the beggining isn't really introling to the point that you can't put it down but I was determined to see it through. It does get better, after about page 80 and then its worthy of "I cant put it down" status but just when it gets intresting it goes south again and you'll find yourself wondering, "Why did I decide to read this." Cathi Hanauer's writing depicts a controdictive girl named Billie and her shaddy interpritation of her sister Cassie's anerexia. Hanauer can't seem to find her main character objectives; she wont go all the way with her boyfriend Vinnie because she's not ready but then she'll go and screw her best friends older brother in the front office of the Shell Gas Station that he works at. Billies parents were also unpleasing to read about. Her father, the surgeon, seems to know nothing about medican, while pretending to be an expert and the mother is just as lost as both her daughters. I found that I couldn't understand Cassie, or all the reasons that she became what she became, she was described as strong but couldn't manage to eat anything. The ending of this book was terrible, their was no conclusion for any of the characters. Overall Cathi Hanauer had a good idea here, telling the story of anerexia from the point of view of a family member who the desease was inflicting but she didn't go deep enough, or show a believable cast of characters to play much need emotions out that simply were not their. Much more is needed for a reader to be touched by something.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I had expected
Review: This book is a good peice of young-adult fiction, but it is not a book that really probes the nature of an eating disorder. The book is a portrait of a 16 year old girl who lives a typical 16 year old life. Her older sister develops anorexia when she leaves for her first semester of college, but the eating disorder senario is more of a subplot to the boyfriend/ best friend sagas that consume most 16 year old girls. In fact, the eating disordered sister is away at college when the book begins and is hospitalized in the middle of the story, so she is absent throughout most of the novel. The book concludes with the trivial boyfriend/ best friend crisis resolved, but there is no epilogue to let the reader know the fate of the eating disordered sister. Do not read this book with the intention of gleaning information on the causes and effects of anorexia; I do not recommend this book to anyone over the age of 14.

Rating:
Summary: My Best Read of the Year
Review: Too simplistic in that it continues to paint all women with EDs as from well-to-do, affluent families who are simply concerned with weight. EDs are not only about weight and anybody can get one, regardless of social status. Still, may be a lesson to those who think having an eating disorder is cool "Because you stay thin that way."