Starfish

whew I messy cried at this. Reading it gets you so in Ellie's head and so furious at the way her fatphobic mom treats her in addition to the school bullies.

I really liked how this shows the internal effects of bullying, and that it addresses that ~bullies are sad for their own reasons~ trope while not letting them off the hook for their actions. I think reading it would make fat tweens feel seen (even if some of the bullying might be more extreme than what happens at their school, it shows how some of the most hurtful words/phrases aren't necessarily the loudest) but also give them hope, and I think for thin kids reading it could give them a bit of empathy and understanding.