With brutal honesty, Dunkle recounts her life with anorexia: her food-hiding strategies; her suspicion of people trying to help; her time in and out of treatment centers; and how not eating felt like a lifeline, even as it destroyed her body and life. The details are sometimes excruciating, and there's hope but no easy fix. A valuable approximation of one anorexic's in-the-moment mindset.

Gr 9 Up-This poignant memoir, cowritten by Elena Dunkle and her mother, Clare, describes the young woman's battle with anorexia, which spanned several years. Opening just before her senior year of high school, Elena relates her experiences in and out of treatment facilities in often stark detail. A rigidly self-disciplined overachiever, the author is critical, both of herself and those around her, and some readers may find her overly judgmental. Because the book only focuses on several periods when she relapsed, it often leaps forward several years, giving it a disjointed feel, and many figures in Elena's life are underdeveloped. However, this young author displays promise. Written in the present tense, her narrative presents an almost frantic sense of immediacy that is well suited to the subject matter, as Elena describes difficult therapy sessions, her sometimes strained but always loving relationship with her mother, friendships with other patients, and events in her life that contributed to her disorder. Her angry, self-critical inner monologue ("The feeding pump is swelling you up. You're not anorexic! Who do you think you're fooling?") effectively conveys her skewed perspective in a manner similar to Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls (Viking, 2009). Fans of that title and Alyssa B. Sheinmel's Stone Girl (Knopf, 2012) will appreciate this painfully honest look at a young woman's struggle. VERDICT A solid addition to memoir collections. Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal

Elena Vanishing is a memoir written like a novel about a young woman's struggle with the eating disorder anorexia. áAt first, this format gives one pause; will it weaken a memoir, not give it the same "validity?" The use of dialogue, however, along with interior thought provides for a very powerful narrative, and allows the reader to experience what Elena feels. Elena is a very real personnot a caricature, not a martyr or a heroine, but a very real person who struggles. The reader hears what seems like the illogical reasons behind Elena's actions, but also understands how her mind works. Perhaps what is most informative is how a variety of peoplesome mental health professionalsinteract with Elena and how, sometimes, their words and actions were counterproductive. Equally informative is what spoke to and reached her.Ultimately, this memoir illustrates how Elena found her own path out from this illness, the treatment she received, and the horrible event that was the catalyst for so many of her issues. áFortunately, the reader is allowed to share part of her journey through this memoir. This is highly recommended for public and high school libraries.Nancy Pierce.Geary, Rick. A Treasury of Victorian Murder, Compendium II. NBM, 2015. 400p. $29.99. 978-1-56163-907-6. 5Q 4P S A/YA Graphic FormatThis reviewer must confess total delight with the entire book, going as far as to clap hands with glee upon seeing the cover. The high-contrast illustrations of Geary's signature style highlight the bizarre mysteries contained in this second collection of graphic novels. Comprised of five peculiar murders, each story provides lurid details about the crimes and their participants. The stories often end with a tantalizing lack of resolution, leaving the armchair inspector to use the provided bibliography and their own research skills to uncover more clues. Whether the stories are read once or numerous times, details that change the course of the cases reveal themselves in different ways that can affect the reader's predictionsbut never their enjoyment. Newspaper clippings, first-hand accounts, and courtroom testimony add to the drama. "The Bloody Benders," in particular, reveals a very dark chapter in American history and will entice the reader with strange facts until the end.Sharing both collections in a classroom could enhance a curriculum focusing on narrative nonfiction, mystery writing, or the justice system. This treasury could enhance the study of other famous historical trials or the reading of works like Twelve Angry Men. What stands out is the tone of the work; this collection has a cheeky perspective. Readers who enjoy wry humor and a devil's advocate for a narrator will appreciate Geary's style. The Treasury of Victorian Murder, Compendium II satisfies readers' insatiable curiosity with the macabre, represented by the continual fascination for stories about the Donner Party, Titanic, and Pompeii.Laura Perenic.