You Are Enough: Your Guide to Body Image and Eating Disorder Recovery

Jen Petro-Roy is a former teen librarian, an obsessive reader, and a trivia fanatic. She lives with her husband and two young daughters in Massachusetts. She is the author of P.S. I Miss You, Good Enough, and You Are Enough: An Inclusive Guide to Body Image and Eating Disorder Recovery. Jen is an eating disorder survivor and an advocate for recovery.

A self-help guide that answers your questions about body image and disordered eating

This nonfiction self-help book for young readers with disordered eating and body image problems delivers real talk about eating disorders and body image, tools and information for recovery, and suggestions for dealing with the media messages that contribute so much to disordered eating.

You Are Enough answers questions like:
• What are eating disorders?
• What types of treatment are available for eating disorders?
• What is anxiety?
• How can you relax?
• What is cognitive reframing?
• Why are measurements like BMI flawed and arbitrary?
• What is imposter syndrome?
• How do our role models affect us?
• How do you deal with body changes?
. . . just to name a few.

Many eating disorder books are written in a way that leaves many people out of the eating disorder conversation, and this book is written with a special eye to inclusivity, so that people of any gender, socioeconomic group, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or chronic illness can benefit.

Eating disorder survivor Jen Petro-Roy draws from her own experience with anorexia, OCD, and over-exercising, as well as research and interviews with survivors and medical professionals, to deliver a toolkit for recovery, written in a easy-to-understand, conversational way.

Gr 5 Up—Part personal narrative, part self-help manual, this compassionate work offers insight and options for eating disorder recovery. It is assumed that readers are familiar with the topic, meaning little time is spent defining eating disorders or describing their symptoms. Instead, the focus is on recovery. Relevant skills from research-proven therapy practices are presented in an accessible way, and medical, nutritional, and mental health experts are cited throughout. Social and societal pressures that contribute to disordered eating are countered with subjects like body positivity. Chapters end in simple exercises for readers to employ what they have learned. Petro-Roy shares her own story as an eating disorder survivor throughout the book, making the text personal and relatable. The tone of the book is casual, while managing to give the topic the seriousness it deserves. Emphasis is placed on how dangerous eating disorders can be, and the importance of recovery. The 12-page table of contents makes it easy to find specific content, while recommended resources and a bibliography provide ample opportunity for further reading. VERDICT An excellent choice for libraries needing new eating disorder resources, especially those serving middle schoolers.—Alex Graves, Manchester City Library, NH

"Resources on eating disorders for the middle-grade set are few and far between, but Petro-Roy writes for this age group with knowledge, compassion, empathy, and inclusivity. . . . Petro-Roy’s encouragement and honesty will speak to readers who might be dealing with disordered eating, and the book’s information, exercises, and resources will hopefully set them on their own paths to recovery." ―Booklist

"This compassionate work offers insight and options for eating disorder recovery. . . . An excellent choice for libraries needing new eating disorder resources, especially those serving middle schoolers." ―School Library Journal