Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Meghan Baranski
Everything feels out of control to Jake Stacey. When middle school started in sixth grade, the year had its ups and downs. When seventh grade came around, the days were decidedly tipping towards more bad than good. At the start of eighth grade, Jake sobbed so hard after the first day he knew he didn’t want to go back. Once his friends decided he was no longer worth taking up space, school became a relentless wasteland of name calling, bullying, and loneliness. To regain some sense of control, Jake starts listening to the screaming Voice in his head telling him to restrict calories, exercise more, sleep through the loneliness, and make himself as small as possible.
Jake’s only true friend is his grandmother, whom he spends weekends with at the library, watching musicals, and singing their lungs out in the car to Broadway soundtracks. She sees Jake when he can’t see himself and as the pounds slip off his frame, she becomes concerned that he is not living up to his promise to “take care of her boy.” The Voice screams louder, telling Jake to eat less, exercise more. He is too much and not enough at the same time.
Jake’s mother receives a phone call of concern from an elderly resident at a nearby nursing home where Jake volunteers after school. Forced to truly look at him, she sees that he is slipping away and is in danger mentally and physically from his self-harm. She has him committed to an inpatient care facility called Whispering Pines where over the course of 313 days, Jake has to confront his anorexia nervosa diagnosis head on with nowhere to hide.
It
said
I would
be
the
best
at
not
eating.
It
said
I
didn’t
need
food.
I listened.
I learned.
I lied to everyone..
I
gave
in
to
my
eating
disorder.
It
controlled
me
when
I thought
I controlled
it.
(Day 146, pg. 370-371.)
Based on author John Schu’s own struggle with eating disorders, LOUDER THAN HUNGER shines as a Newbery contender with its character development, its graphic portrayal of self-harm and starvation, and gives a realistic glimpse into the mental battle it takes to confront a Voice that is relentless with its lies and harm. Coming in at 506 pages of prose, it is a behemoth novel in verse. However, the brisk pace and gripping narrative allows a strong reader to devour it in one sitting. Unlike other novels covering this topic, I admire how Schu doesn’t tie up the ending in a neat bow and lets the reader know that this will be a lifelong battle Jake will have to face for the rest of his life. Sprinkled with hope, love, and gratitude for the power of poetry and art, LOUDER THAN HUNGER is a frontrunner for me as a Newbery winner. Do you agree? I’ll see you in the comments.
Heavy Medal Award Committee members and others are now invited to discuss this book further in the Comments section below. Let the Mock Newbery discussion begin!