May 30
OCD in different characters! Jake Stacey from Louder Than Hunger by John Schu, Danielle Levine from OCD, The Dude, and Me! By Lauren Roedy Vaughn, and Mitchell Worth from The Fort by Gordon Korman
Loading...
seen from China
seen from Philippines
seen from France
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Belarus
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Dominican Republic
seen from United States
seen from South Africa
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Austria
OCD in different characters! Jake Stacey from Louder Than Hunger by John Schu, Danielle Levine from OCD, The Dude, and Me! By Lauren Roedy Vaughn, and Mitchell Worth from The Fort by Gordon Korman
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Discovered a YA (technically middle school) book written in verse: Louder Than Hunger by John Schu. Set in the 90's, I might as well be reading my journal in 8th grade. The bullying, the "I am Nobody, who are you?," The Voice, the neglectful mother, the self-loathing, the music and books as survival...
A sick part wants to go back. At least I knew my place then.
Where I belong.
Therapy is a chance to talk with someone about the things that are important to you in an effort to make your life easier, better, and more fun. Sometimes therapy is a conversation between you and one other person. But sometimes talking about our experiences in group therapy helps.
John Schu, Louder Than Hunger
The pages are dog-eared, torn, tattered, stained, and loved. The spine is brittle, broken, barely hanging on, and loved.
John Schu, Louder Than Hunger
Review: Louder Than Hunger by John Schu
It has been a while since I've read a powerful, moving children's novel and I knew that Louder Than Hunger would scratch that itch. I would say that it firmly straddles the line between middle-grade and YA, as the protagonist is a young teen but the main subject matter (anorexia) is dark and it doesn't shy away from the graphic reality of that. It's probably best suited to readers aged 13+ and every reader should proceed with caution.
Jake loves books, musical theatre and spending time with his grandma. He hates food, mirrors and feeling enormous. He is desperate to avoid attention, so he tries his best to be as small as he possibly can be and not eating seems to be the only way to do that. How long can he possibly keep it up before he disappears?
Jake is haunted by the malevolent voice of his eating disorder, which consistently interrupts his thoughts, seemingly whenever he is otherwise having a good time. It's such an honest, accurate representation of how an eating disorder operates and makes for devastating reading that had me on edge the whole way.
Many readers will agree that there is nothing better than the smell of new books but Jake almost treats inhaling the scent as eating or consuming. This reversal of something that is so often considered to be harmless and calming was quite disturbing and just one of many examples of the damage within the mind of someone with an eating disorder.
I have never been diagnosed with an eating disorder but I definitely have an unhealthy relationship with food. I read every nutritional label, I count calories and I try my best to keep within my 'allowance'. I don't get physical symptoms when I fail to do these things but I think it does affect my mood. It's exhausting and difficult, so I can only imagine how hard it must be when it consumes your whole life.
Jake's description of how it feels when he eats and thinks about the food inside his body could only come from someone who has definitely had these thoughts before. It's so graphic and it actually made me feel queasy. I will actually go as far as to say that it caused me to be disgusted by eggs and cereal and other foods that I loved, so I would again urge precaution before encouraging young readers with disordered eating to read this book.
I think the saddest part of the book was that Jake is a strong empath and he is well aware of the worry that he is causing his family. Despite this, it's not enough for him to silence the voice, which is literally louder than his very natural hunger. He wants to eat but his mind simply won't allow him to. I think one of the book's strongest merits is the way it illustrates eating disorders as existing in the mind rather than the body. Many sufferers really want to eat and get better but their illness is just too fierce and controlling.
Louder Than Hunger is a thought-provoking, emotional read. I think I wanted Jake to build more on his friendships and for there to be a bit more of a plot. However, I have since learned that this is based on the author's own experience, which makes sense because it does read like a memoir in places. I'm really glad I read it because it's an important topic that young readers should be aware of and it's an accurate portrayal. It's authentic and hopeful but really quite raw, so take care of yourself while reading!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
It begins with a word, it creates a community: This is a Story, by John Schu & Lauren Castillo
This is a Story, by John Schu/Illustrated by Lauren Castillo, (March 2023, Candlewick Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781536204520 Ages 4-8 Children’s librarian, literacy advocate, and author John Schu follows up last year’s This is a School with a moving tale of how stories connect communities. Beginning with a word on a page, Schu takes readers to the library, where a child and librarian connect over a…
View On WordPress
End of School Year storytime: This is a School
End of School Year storytime: This is a School @candlewick @mrschureads @VeronicaJArt
This is a School, by John Schu/Illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison, (March 2022, Candlewick Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781536204582 Ages 4-8 I know, kids are ready to run out the door by now, and you may be thinking, “End of school year storytime? WHAT?” But bear with me, because John Schu’s This is a School is a beautifully crafted look at a community, and how a school is the beating heart of a…
View On WordPress
The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch will arrive as the United States marks the 150th anniversary of the period in which our true story is set: Reconstruction. In ten years, John Roy Lynch went from enslaved teenager to U.S. congressman -- a transformation that I hope our audience will find fascinating, and one that occurred during an era that many Americans know little about. The journey that Don Tate and I took with this book is a remarkable one as well. In 2007, as a friend and fellow writer in the critique group gathered at my kitchen table, Don was one of the first people ever to read my manuscript about John Roy Lynch. I'm so glad that -- all these many years later -- it's his marvelous art that's joining my story as it becomes a finished book.