A Work in Progress by Jarrett Lerner
Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
A novel in verse.
Will was called fat in 4th grade. That moment has stayed with him for years. He is now in middle school (I think 7th grade), and he is still dealing with that one moment. He spends most of his time on his own. He finds himself turning to food often. He stuffs his face with chips and cookies when he gets home from school. This sounded like it was the opposite of the book, Louder than Hunger. One book was about a kid who didn’t eat enough, and this was going to be about a kid who overeats.
Eventually, all of this becomes too much for him. He doesn’t want to be like this anymore. He wants to be better with food. He doesn’t want people laughing behind his back about how he looks. He starts by eating what his parents eat for dinner: chicken, broccoli, and rice. (I’m not going to lie; this is also a typical dinner for me.) I was impressed with Will at this point. He made a decision, and now he was eating better, and I thought, wow, he is going to be amazing. He even starts seeing some of his clothes begin to fit better! I was so impressed with him! He would drink water when he wanted to snack and pack smaller lunches than before. He was really putting in the effort to reach his goals.
But then he starts eating only half of these smaller lunches and skipping breakfast and lunch altogether. He starts skipping more and more meals. He was doing so well, and then he just got carried away. Not eating is, of course, bad, and things start to go downhill. Will has become his worst bully.
The ending seemed kind of rushed, but still realistic. I know this wouldn’t be everyone’s situation, and Will might find himself falling back into old ways in the future, but I liked it. I hope this book is found by the readers who need it most.
Literary Coffee 