Kids have to deal with fatphobia and bullying in society, in the media (including social media), at school, and, sadly, usually at home.įor as long as they’re fat, fat people are told all day, every day that fat is bad, and they’re bad for being fat. It’s exhausting and soul-crushing even for adults, who are better equipped to handle the onslaught than children, especially since brains don’t fully develop until age twenty-five. When you’re fat, you live in a constant brace-for-impact mode-always knowing the next comment, stare, or laugh is coming. How sad is it that Ellie fears kindness and is afraid of anyone who’s nice to her? Yet it’s part of the fat person experience. She expects Catalina’s being nice just to set her up for a prank. Ellie’s initial interactions with her new next-door neighbor, Catalina, reveal just how much trauma Ellie’s endured. Studies show that fat people have fewer friends because those who aren’t fat don’t want to be around them. Ellie only has one friend, Viv, and that’s why it’s so devastating when she moves away as the story begins. In Starfish, I showed-without holding back at all-exactly how fat people, which includes kids, are treated in a fatphobia-dominated world. Why did you want to show that, and especially for MG readers? She’s learning to combat fatphobia-including internalized fatphobia-and that’s hard.
What drew me to this book immediately was how celebratory it is, but it’s not a straightforward journey for Ellie.
With this support buoying her, Ellie might finally be able to cast aside the Fat Girl Rules and starfish in real life–by unapologetically being her own fabulous self. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. It’s also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie’s weight will motivate her to diet. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules–like “no making waves,” “avoid eating in public,” and “don’t move so fast that your body jiggles.” And she’s found her safe space–her swimming pool–where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. I’m working to reclaim the word and strip it of its use as a weapon.Įllie is tired of being fat-shamed and does something about it in this poignant debut novel-in-verse.Įver since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she’s been bullied about her weight.
I think fat should be a simple descriptor, like tall or brunette. Not any of the other words a lot of people use. Today we’re pleased to welcome Lisa Fipps to the WNDB blog to discuss her MG novel Starfish, out March 9, 2021!Īuthor’s note: I use the word fat.
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