A Work in Progress
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A young boy struggles with body image in this poignant and “perceptive” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) middle grade journey to self-acceptance told through prose, verse, and illustration.
Will is the only round kid in a school full of thin ones. So he hides…in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies, in the back row during class, and anywhere but the cafeteria during lunch. But shame isn’t the only feeling that dominates Will’s life. He’s also got a crush on a girl named Jules who he knows he doesn’t have a chance with, because of his size—but he can’t help wondering what if?
Will’s best shot at attracting Jules’s attention is by slaying the Will Monster inside him by changing his eating habits and getting more exercise. But the results are either frustratingly slow or infuriatingly unsuccessful, and Will’s shame begins to morph into self-loathing.
As he resorts to increasingly drastic measures to transform his appearance, Will meets skateboarder Markus, who helps him see his body and all it contains as an ever-evolving work in progress.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Using succinct and personal-feeling verse, Lerner (the Nat the Cat series) crafts an empathetic illustrated novel about one boy's experience with body dysmorphia, disordered eating, and stigma. Ever since an incident three years ago in which a bully maliciously called him fat in a crowded hallway ("That word.// He spat it at me/ like it was the worst one/ he knew"), middle schooler Will Chambers has felt self-conscious in his body, wearing baggy clothes and isolating himself from his friends. He pretends everything is fine, even as he begins eating less. But when new friend Markus questions Will about why he never brings anything for lunch, and Will overhears hurtful gossip about his crush on a skinny classmate, Will moves further into a cycle of bingeing and restricting food. Lerner's sketch-like illustrations, presented as Will's own diary doodles, render grayscale caricatures of Will's classmates, while his own self-portrait, depicted via stark black scribbles, slowly morphs into a monstrous version of himself that fills the page. Employing frenetic pacing and disjointed verse that conveys Will's growing anxiety and internalized shame, Lerner cultivates a perceptive representation of recovery and self-acceptance. Most characters' skin tones reflect the white of the page. Ages 8–12.
