School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-8-Integrating information with individual teen experiences, this slim volume deals with the use of drugs and their relationship to eating disorders. Four chapters include personal narratives and discussions that suggest how young people begin to use (both legal and illegal) diet drugs, the age at which such activity usually begins, and where to find help. The large print, generally simple sentences, case studies, and full-page, full-color and black-and-white photographs should appeal to reluctant readers. For report writers, the introduction may be the most helpful. Students needing information about a drug's origin, manufacture, use, effect on the body, etc. will need to look elsewhere. Also the factual material about a given substance is not all in the same place, making it necessary to use the index to locate all the references to it. A brief glossary is of limited assistance. While many sources contain personal-experience stories (readers are not told whether they are fact or fiction), this is the only known source that blends the problems of eating disorders and drugs. Useful in conjunction with other books about these two topics.-Lois McCulley, Wichita Falls High School, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.