What do You think about Girls Under Pressure (2003)?
Girls Under Pressure should honestly be read by each and every girl living in this world. IT IS SO EDUCATIONAL (Girl-wise)!!!Let's get to the fun part then.The thing with this book is the way is has been written, by the point of view of our main character Ellie, who is one of the funniest characters I have had the joy to "read". She is your normal teenage girl struggling through her weight problem and looks. The way in which Ellie describes herself and her "adventures" is so cute, and I am sure she can relate to all us girls out there! This is a great book that will make you feel full of life by the end of it. From the Girls Under series, this is honestly my top favorite one.
—dummydums
‘Girls Under Pressure’ is about three teenage girls who want to change their appearances. The story is told from the viewpoint of chubby thirteen-year-old girl Eleanor “Ellie” Allard who endlessly obsesses about her weight. Ellie’s two best friends Magda and Nadine have their own obsessions about their appearances. Magda worries that her appearance is giving boys the wrong idea about her and Nadine wants to look like a model. When Ellie, Magda and Nadine are out shopping they end up queuing up for a modelling competition. Magda and Nadine are excited by this and both have their photos taken. Ellie is horrified at the thought of being photographed, so when it is her turn she panics and runs to hide in the toilets. This drives Ellie to start a diet which sometimes involves her making herself sick.Ellie forces herself to stop dieting when she visits Zoe, who she knows from doing an art project together. Zoe is severely anorexic and is hospitalised after collapsing and nearly dying of heart failure. Ellie comes to her senses and does not want to end up like Zoe. I liked this book as it shows some of the issues that many teenage girls have experienced and this makes it very easy to relate to how the main character Ellie feels about herself. Although I did enjoy reading this book, I did sometimes feel that Ellie’s obsessions about her being fat became a little boring at times. This book would be suitable for independent reading or to inspire a creative writing task for a year 6 class. At this age some students will be able to understand how the characters feel and what they are going through.
—Sheryl Jeremiah
Normally, I turn a blind eye to whatever Jacqueline Wilson writes but as soon as I picked the book up, I couldn't put it down! The story got to me simply because (on a personal level) I relate to the main character, Ellie. Before I read this book, I wasn't able to describe my feelings and distinguish what they were yet after I understood a little more.This book would be great for those who don't really understand eating disorders since it brings you through the sufferer's thoughts after they eat and how it affects their families. It's a sort of generalised case but it's great for young teens to prevent them from being exposed to the romanticized version of anorexia and bulimia that you see on tumblr, or on the runway. It's empathetic to people who have already been through that yet at the near end of the book it talks about Ellie's recovery and that's what I love about it. She goes from a nervous, calorie counting wreck to a bold, confident woman :)
—Tamara
