  | Better to eat you with Author: Mejia, Tehlor Kay | |
| Price: $22.58 | ||
Summary:
As her parents head toward divorce, twelve-year-old Evan spends her summer with her best friend Billie, but everything begins to fall apart as Billie drifts away, her mother's health obsession intensifies, and a growing hunger consumes her, just as a sinister presence in the woods emerges, leaving her to wonder if the real monster is inside her.
Reviews:
School Library Journal (+) (08/29/25)
Booklist (00/08/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Other - 06/09/2025 In this expressive work of psychological horror, Mejia (It Happened to Anna) explores one tween’s grappling for bodily autonomy throughout a gripping summer-set mystery. Though 12-year-old Evan Rio’s parents haven’t officially separated, she knows it’s coming: her father is full of hollow cheer, while her mother, wrestling with body image issues, redirects her anxiety toward Evan under the guise of bonding through restrictive diets and exercise. Instead of spending the summer together as usual, Evan is sent to stay with her best friend, Billie Barnard, also 12, in lakeside resort town Sonrisa. While Billie is preoccupied by first crushes, however, Evan’s worries about her family fester, exacerbating her anorexia, body dysmorphia, and internalized shame. Meanwhile, the citizens of Sonrisa attempt to uncover the cause of mysterious claw marks, paw prints, and goose carcasses appearing around town, as well as nocturnal howling. Suspenseful atmosphere raises the stakes of Evan’s hair-raising investigation, while empathetic prose realistically depicts Evan’s experience with disordered eating, including her rationalizations of her family situation, her longing for control over her body and her circumstances, and her struggles with asking for help. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 10-up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Sept.) - Copyright 2025
School Library Journal - 08/29/2025 Gr 6—Summer trips to the quiet resort town of Sonrisa were always a source of family fun for 12-year-old Evan, and a chance to reconnect with friends Billie and Jackson. But Evan can't enjoy herself this year amid pressing worry over the disintegration of her parents' marriage and scrutiny from her mother Moira over everything Evan eats. Moira says it's all about building healthy eating habits, but the restrictiveness of the diet leaves Evan feeling faint and spent. Additionally, the quiet of Sonrisa is disrupted by a mysterious nocturnal beast that kills animals and leaves strange tracks and marks around the camp. Evan and her friends sneak out to find answers, and Evan is disquieted by the connection she seems to share with the creature. While this presents a light horror element, the book's scare factor lies in how Moira has pushed her daughter into anorexia. The pressure and worry that Evan feels every time she strays from her diet is palpable, and her body's weakness leads to a couple of dangerous situations while swimming and hiking. Helpfully, author Mejia provides a compassionate voice in Billie, who shows herself to be a true friend as she begins to understand what Evan is dealing with. The creature ultimately reveals itself to be an empowering force for Evan and guides her to understand her body's needs. VERDICT Mejia's deft exploration of a distressing topic provides a window into disordered eating and shows the importance of providing help to someone in crisis. Highly recommended.—Michael Van Wambeke - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
