From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble Review
In Girls Under Pressure, Book Two of her Girls Trilogy, Brit teen writer Jacqueline Wilson paints a thoroughly riveting and shocking picture of the devastation caused by bulemia.
When Ellie gets called fat at a local modeling contest sign-up, she starts to obsess about her weight. Her two best friends don't make it any easier, since confident Magda "doesn't really need to lose much weight" and thin Nadine eats whatever she wants and receives plenty of attention from the boys. Feeling sick and disgusted after gorging herself one night, Ellie "helps" herself by sticking her finger down her throat -- thus beginning a vicious cycle of bingeing and purging. After she sees her emaciated schoolmate Zoë in the showers, Ellie's problems escalate along with her self-delusion: She fools herself into believing her issues with food are nowhere near as serious as Zoë's.
Wilson's book about this eating disorder is absorbing and realistic. Ellie is a multi-dimensional character, whose descent into bulemia is handled with the complexity and honesty it deserves. Teachers and parents looking to open discussions about this problem will find it a helpful springboard, and teens searching for a book about social stress and the power of friendship will find Girls Under Pressure a book they'll want to pick up. A quick read that packs a punch. (Matt Warner)
From the Publisher
Ellie thinks she looks awful. Horrible. FAT. Her best friends are both drop-dead gorgeous and Ellie’s sick of being the ugly duckling. So she goes on a diet. And she even starts to exercise, much to her friends’ and her gym teacher’s amazement. Ellie’s hungry all the time, she works out every spare second, and she’s turned into a grouchy meanie. But if her friends don’t want to deal with the new and improved Ellie, that’s their problem. It’s better to be thin than happy. Isn’t it?
Publishers Weekly
Feeling like she doesn't measure up to her "drop-dead gorgeous" friends, Ellie tries to take control of her weight, and ends up battling bulimia, in this follow-up to Girls in Love. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Paula Rohrlick
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KLIATT
To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, September 2002: This series, Girls Quartet, is like a British version of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice series. Here the protagonist is hot-tempered Ellie, who in the first book Girls in Love is just starting ninth grade. She lives with her father, her stepmother, and her younger brother Eggs; she has two best friends, Magda and Nadine; and she dreams of becoming a graphic artist. Like Naylor, Wilson deals with the road bumps of adolescence with insight and humor. In Book 2, Girls Under Pressure, Ellie decides she is fat, and starts to starve herself. In the end, visiting a friend with anorexia, she realizes how dangerous her current course is. In Book 3, Girls Out Late, Ellie meets Russell, who is interested in art just like she is, and she narrowly escapes serious trouble when she stays out late with friends. Gossipy and realistic, addressing serious issues as well as clothes and crushes, this series, though somewhat predictable, will appeal to younger girls. The British slang shouldn't pose much of a problem for American readers. (Girls Quartet: Book 2). KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2002, Random House, Dell, Laurel-Leaf, 214p.,
School Library Journal
Gr 6-9-This second book in the series continues the story of Ellie, Magda, and Nadine. They are acutely aware of the size and shape of their bodies, and Ellie realizes that she doesn't measure up physically to her slimmer friends. She begins a dangerous flirtation with anorexia and bulimia, and begins to exhibit the behaviors that often go along with eating disorders, such as lying to parents, hiding food, and exercising obsessively. Ellie isn't the only one with problems-Magda's chronic dating and flirting nearly lead to date rape, and Nadine is crushed when she makes the first cut in a modeling contest but then bombs miserably. Luckily, the girls have one another and understanding and supportive families. Wilson sugarcoats the serious issues with humor, but manages to get the message across without appearing didactic.-Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.