The introduction page of the book holds a short letter from the author to the person holding her novel. In watching this progression, the reader is confronted with what so many people with mental health issues face: pervasive negative thoughts that can feel as though they have entirely engulfed one’s life. They start out small, but as the thoughts get darker, messier, and more destructive, so do the scribblings-sometimes growing so large that they take over the whole page until they swallow Green whole. For instance, her destructive, disordered thoughts surrounding food, her body, and her peers are depicted by dark and messy scribbles above her head. These sketches deliver the very powerful and raw portrayals of Katie’s experience. The words that accompany these sketches narrate her life, thoughts, and conversations as she navigates the development of and treatment for her eating disorder. More than 500 pages are filled with illustrations, simply but artfully sketched, depicting Green’s journey through adolescence into adulthood. This novel is unique in that it is not comprised of chapter after chapter of words on a page, telling the story of her experiences instead, she tells us about her experience with eating disorders in the form of a graphic novel. In Lighter than My Shadow, author Katie Green shares her personal experience in living with an eating disorder, starting from the time that she was a young girl.
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