You Remind Me of You

I am a big fan of "issue" books, but Eireann Corrigan actually lived this life, so it hit home harder. I feel like most middle and high school students would not be ready to read something as real and raw as this poetry memoir of her battle with anorexia. For three years, she was in and out of treatment centers and by the time she graduated, her doctors were convinced that she was going to die.

This "issue" book doesn't only touch upon eating disorders, but coming of age, loss, love and attempted suicide. All of Corrigan's poems revolve around herself not being able to reach defection. Who is perfect? Even though I won't encourage my students to read this, Corrigan has a way of keeping her audience engaged and humor through the hurt. She accounts her struggle with anorexia and her boyfriend Daniel's struggle with attempted suicide. Within minutes, she's lost the man who spoon-fed her to another hospital down the road. Over their years of recovery they went from hospital to hospital trying to bring about this sense of life and being. Daniel couldn't bear the hurt Eireann was facing, so he relied on weed to carry him on. "Your problems don't only hurt you!" When things got so bad, he tried to end his life in his basement while his sister was upstairs talking to their mother on the phone.

This is the story of love, harm and recovery. The poems begin happy and fade to depressing and visa verse. They keep you hooked and at times make you cry and actually feel for her. This is not what I considered an "issue" book is some body's lifestyle and feel it was Corrigan's form of therapy.

In a classroom, I might read a poem or two and have a discussion, but I would not force my students to read this. Although, I think they should be introduced because these topics are so real and happen to many teens daily.

Christina Aguilera's song, "Beautiful" reminds me of the face that people don't see in the mirror when they have eating disorders. They don't realize that they are beautiful. They don't realize that they are fine and do not need to lose weight. Anorexia is a hard disorder in which many teens face and have nobody who will listen.
This book is a great reminder that you are beautiful and have a purpose.