Product Description

'Big, bold and brave' J-17

'I'm fat,' I hear myself saying. I look in the mirror. My face has gone hot and red; I feel like i'm going to explode. 'I'm fat.' It sizzles under my skin, puffing me up, pushing me out, making me massive.

Weight has always been a big issue in Carmen's life. Not surprising when her mum is obsessed with the idea that thin equals beauty, thin equals success, thin equals the way to get what you want. And somehow her daughter is going to be thin.

When her mother sweeps her off to live in the city, Carmen finds her old world disappearing. With everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose. Carmen starts to ask: if she were thin, very thin, could it all be different?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105958 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

The Bookseller, 21 June 02
...boldly yet sensitively explores complex interactions between emotional and nutritional needs... perceptive and disturbing...

The Bookseller, 19 July 02
With stark images, it tackles a difficult subject in a shocking yet realistic manner.

Big Issue, 2 September 02
..told with sympathy and humour and somehow manages to be enjoyable as well as thought-provoking.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic Reading for All Ages
Massive is an extremely well written book which captures the flavour of being a teenager. The subject is Massively important - Eating disorders, have been tackled before but not quite in this way. Bell is looking at the social factors which breeds anorexia and bulimia in our society.
If I had a daughter I would certainly recommend that she read this book.

Disturbing
Narrated by a teenage girl with an eating disorder this is an immensely moving story. It's all the more tragic because her body issues are strongly influenced by her mother, who herself is obsessed with her weight, She causes her daughter to become extremely lacking in confidence and believing that the only way to be accepted and loved is to be stick thin. Anorexia and bulimia become part of this family's every day life, despite other relations trying to help the daughter break out of this unhealthy cycle. A brilliantly written tale of food obsession, but one that I suggest only older teenagers read as it is very disturbing at times.

Hmmm
I thought this was a very well written book, and the people who seem to be criticizing it are not taking it for what it is. First of all, it IS quite realistic. I am a teenager and have had various eating disorders since age thirteen. Carmen is a nice balance for a character. Most books I've read on the subject show a girl who just one day stops and eating, and wont re-start until she's hospitalized. I can tell you right now- it has never happened like that to anyone I know. Massive is a great read as a piece of fiction, but also a story that says a lot. If you think there aren't mothers like Maria, you're wrong.