Alyssa Sheinmel

The Stone Girl

Starve (verb)

1. To die or perish from lack of food or nourishment.
2. To suffer severely from hunger.
3. To suffer from extreme need.
4. To feel a strong need or desire.

Sethie Weiss is hungry, a mean, angry kind of hunger that feels like a piece of glass in her belly. She’s managed to get down to 111 pounds and knows that with a little more hard work—a few more meals skipped, a few more snacks vomited away—she can force the number on the scale even lower. She will work on her body the same way she worked to get her perfect grades, to finish her college applications early, to get her first kiss from Shaw, the boy she loves, the boy who isn’t quite her boyfriend.

Sethie will not allow herself one slip, not one bad day, not one break in concentration. Her body is there for her to work on when everything and everyone else—her best friend, her schoolwork, and Shaw—are gone. From critically acclaimed writer Alyssa B. Sheinmel comes an unflinching and unparalleled portrayal of one girl’s withdrawal, until she is sinking like a stone into her own illness, her own loneliness—her own self.

Praise for The Stone Girl

Authentic…vivid and painfully truthful.
– Publishers Weekly

Third-person, present-tense narration adds an additional level of edginess…vividly depicted.
– Kirkus Reviews

Sheinmel proves there’s a lot more to an eating disorder than food, or the lack thereof.
– The New York Times Book Review

Chilling…The details show the ugliness and heartbreaking aspects of anorexia/bulimia…A compelling take on a common theme in young adult literature.
– School Library Journal

Sethie’s plight will resonate not only with teens who have dealt with eating disorders but with any reader who has felt the unyielding pressure to conform to a just out-of-reach ideal.
– School Library Journal (online)

Sheinmel succeeded in creating a character that every teen will likely relate to and want to help. This is an important story, one of eating disorders and depression, one that teens might need to read for themselves or for a friend.
– The Pirate Tree