Elena has an eating disorder. Everyone around her is telling her that, but she doesn’t
believe it. All she knows is that they’re jealous of her. They’re jealous of her body, of herself
control. Elena knows that she should be proud of herself but she can’t. Not with this voice in her
head. The voice that always tells her that she’s not good enough. That she’s not skinny enough,
that she’s too ugly, and that everything is her fault.
Elena goes about her life until her body starts to break down and she’s sent from one
hospital to another, all over the country. As she finally starts to accept that that voice within her
is evil and she can’t listen to it anymore, Elena has to revisit something painful that she’s hidden
for a long time. As she starts to recover, Elena relearns important lessons about family and love,
and she realizes that the thing she needs most of all is to love herself.
elena vanishing is the story of a girl who wears her fear as armor and doesn’t let anyone
in. Reading this book you will learn to love Elena as she learns to love herself. You will cry and
laugh with her and overall, enjoy watching her grow as a person. Elena and Clare B. Dunkle
have given us a memoir we will never forget.