Life is very grave for Anise. Hospitalized for anorexia, she wonders about the point of it all.

Her frigid mother and ineffectual father seem oblivious to her struggle. Her beloved brother is too busy screwing up his own life to take note of hers. Living on the loony ward seems not to be making any difference at all, and Anise feels like a prisoner. Her only free choice is to turn to her journal - the place where she can dream, and where she can decide whether to live or die.

Gail Sidonie Sobat is an award-winning author for children, teens and young adults. Her novel, Gravity Journal, was a 2009 White Pine Honour Book, a Moonbeam Gold Award winner, and was nominated for the 2011 Stellar Award. Gail is also the creator and coordinator of YouthWrite, camps for kids who love to write, and of SWYC (Spoken Word Youth Choir). Not With a Bang is her ninth book.

Gail Sidonie Sobat's profile page

"A gritty novel for middle teen readers" - Prairie Fire

"Sobat has created a tight and simple masterpiece. It is obvious that she has done her research about eating disorders yet she doesn't preach or pander. . . This isn't a self-help book; it's a damned good novel." - CM Magazine

"Gravity Journal is a very heartfelt book. It doesn't sugar-coat the struggles or bouts of depression that accompany a recovering anorexic." - Lethbridge Herald

"Gravity Journal pulls you into laughter and pushes you to tears."&nbsp- WhatIf? Magazine

"Gravity Journal is one of those books you can't put down until you're finished. . . I simply loved it. A+" - Grip magazine

". . . this highly compelling novel will grab the attention of readers from the first page." - Canadian Children's Book News

Gravity Journal

On the eve of yet another hospitalization for anorexia, Anise wonders if there is a point to her life. Lacking support from a cold and distant mother and a hapless father (referred to as Loathed and Witless) she looks to her brother for support, but his addiction to crystal meth has him too badly screwed up to be of use. To find relief she cuts herself, and writes in her journal, recording her feelings and observations about her family and those around her, and most importantly, where she decides whether to choose life or death.

Whether given to a teen with an eating disorder, or read for personal interest, this highly compelling novel will grab the attention of readers from the first page. Anise is intelligent, but conflicted. She loathes the idea of being hospitalized again, but is at the same time grateful for the escape that it offers her from her family.

The story alternates between the narrative and Anise’s journal, and it is the journal that is most powerful. Written in a variety of forms ranging from poetry to lists, the entries are heartbreaking, brutally honest, and a glimpse into this character’s soul. Behind those words is a girl who desperately wants love and support, but doesn’t get it from the sources she most needs it from. Where she does ultimately find that support, and the complexity of that relationship, adds another dimension to this already powerful story.

In what could have been another depressing teen issue book, Gravity Journal ends on a positive note. Neither promising, nor providing a tidy happy ending, the final pages leave the reader feeling that there is a possibility that everything could be alright, and that there is hope for the future.

Gravity Journal

Struggling with anorexia and living in the psych ward, Anise wonders about the point of it all. She turns to her journal to make observations, to dream and to decide whether to live or die.