Paperweight by Meg Haston

Paperweight

Meg Haston

HarperCollins · Paperback · March 7, 2017

This emotionally haunting and beautifully written young adult debut delves into the devastating impact of trauma and loss, in the vein of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls.

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Who it’s for
An easy-entry read for when you want the story to carry the weight.
Genres
Eating Disorders & Body Image for Teens, Teen Suicide, Mental Illness for Teens
Published
HarperCollins, March 7, 2017

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For younger readers: Fighting Words, Starfish, Taking Up Space

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About this book

This emotionally haunting and beautifully written young adult debut delves into the devastating impact of trauma and loss, in the vein of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls. Seventeen-year-old Stevie is trapped. In her life. In her body. And now in an eating-disorder treatment center on the dusty outskirts of the New Mexico desert. Life in the center is regimented and intrusive, a nightmare come true.

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Nurses and therapists watch Stevie at meal time, accompany her to the bathroom, and challenge her to eat the foods she’s worked so hard to avoid. Her dad has signed her up for sixty days of treatment. But what no one knows is that Stevie doesn’t plan to stay that long. There are only twenty-seven days until the anniversary of her brother Josh’s death—the death she caused. And if Stevie gets her way, there are only twenty-seven days until she, too, will end her life. Paperweight follows seventeen-year-old Stevie’s journey as she struggles not only with a life-threatening eating disorder, but with the question of whether she can ever find absolution for the mistakes of her past…and whether she truly deserves to.

Why It Works

An easy-entry read for when you want the story to carry the weight.

Come here for

  • accessible, straightforward storytelling
  • author-following pick with a heavy subject

Expect

  • teen mental health themes
  • immersive, sustained-narrative pacing

Where it sits

Eating Disorders & Body Image for Teens93%
Mental Illness for Teens52%
Teen Suicide49%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • YA Stories About Boys & Men
  • Coming of Age
  • YA Sibling Stories
  • YA LGBTQ+
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • YA Romance - LGBTQ+
  • Death & Grief for Teens
  • Depression for Teens
  • Eating Disorders & Body Image for Teens
Authors
Meg Haston
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
March 7, 2017
Format
Paperback
Reading lane
YA Stories About Boys & Men