Believarexic

Asking for help is only the first step.

Jennifer can’t go on like this—binging, purging, starving, and all while trying to appear like she’s got it all together. But when she finally confesses her secret to her parents and is hospitalized, her journey is only beginning.

As Jennifer progresses through her treatment, she learns to recognize her relationship with food, and friends, and family—and how each is healthy or unhealthy. She has to learn to trust herself and her own instincts, but that’s easier than it sounds. She has to believe—after many years of being a believarexic.

Using her trademark dark humor and powerful emotion, J. J. Johnson tells an inspiring story based on her own experience when she was hospitalized for an eating disorder as a teenager. The innovative format using blank verse and prose, changes in tense and voice, and forms, workbooks, and journal entries mirror Jennifer’s progress toward a healthy body and mind."The unique format and detailed portrayal. . . help readers feel as if they are on this journey with her. . . for the many who have been personally affected by eating disorders, it can offer hope."—School Library Journal

"A powerful story of healing and self-acceptance."—Kirkus Reviews

★ "Compelling and authentic, this story is impossible to put down. . . Perfect for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls (2009), Believarexic is a raw, memorable reading experience."—Booklist, Starred ReviewJ. J. Johnson grew up in Norwich, a small town in central New York. After recovering from an eating disorder in high school, Johnson attended Binghamton University and then earned a Master of Education from Harvard. The author of three acclaimed young adult novels, Johnson lives in North Carolina, where she works with neurodivergent and historically marginalized teens. There is a Little Free Library in her front yard.