My Perfect Little Secret

On the first day of sophomore year, Lillian Grace Parker organizes handouts with sticky tabs, assigns different colored highlighters to each class, and loads the whole thing into a bubblegum-pink binder. Lilly’s pencil-straight brown hair and a sea of freckles feel even more annoying to her with the few extra pounds she’s gained over summer break. But Lilly never met a problem she can’t fix. As the number on the scale goes down, Lilly keeps changing her goal to a lower weight. Everything’s going even better than planned. She’s got a BFF who’s awesome, all A’s (not to mention every extra credit available), and on the soccer field, she’s scoring goal after goal. Best of all, she’s head over heels in love with Sean, the quirky, sensitive guy who sweeps her off her feet the first week of school. Then why doesn’t she feel good? Lilly thinks if she can just lose a few more pounds all her troubles will melt away. With coffee for breakfast, her favorite foods on the NO EAT list, and her dog getting fat from the scraps she’s feeding her under the table, Lilly is losing not only pounds, but herself. When Lilly collapses on the soccer field, she’s forced to make one of the biggest decisions of her life. Will she continue to lie to everyone she loves to hide her little secret and maintain her distorted version of a perfect body or will she have the courage to fight for her life and see herself for more than the reflection in the mirror? Quotes from readers: “Rebecca Glenski Coppage has written an important book about a tough, sweet, real teenage girl who will steal your heart. This is a story for anyone who is or has been a teen. And anyone who eats food. “ —David Henry Sterry, bestselling author of Chicken “This book deals with a serious health problem that is prevalent in our society. In all the right places, this book does not mince words. It describes precisely the phenomenon of an altered body image.” —C.M., age 61 (whose daughter suffered from an eating disorder) “It was so good. Literally one of the best books I’ve ever read.” —M.G., age 17 “As an adult who grappled with an eating disorder as a teen, I’m struck by how in-tune Rebecca Glenski Coppage is with the mindset of high school girls who fall prey to anorexia. This book is an excellent point of departure for conversation between teenagers and their parents, as the author accurately points out that even the most astute parents can miss the warning signs of eating disorders. Coppage writes this cautionary tale from the empathetic perspective of someone who clearly understands kids today and remembers what it feels like to be in high school. And she does it with an engrossing narrative that’s hard to put down.” —K.A.S.