• Age: 14 to 18
• Grade: 9 to 12
• Reading age: 7 to 10

Raine has a family, good grades, best friends, and a boyfriend who loves her. But then anorexia takes over, and her life spirals out of control. Her efforts to hide her condition are finished when she collapses at a school dance. Although she's whisked away to treatment, Raine isn't ready to accept who she really is and get the help she desperately needs. For Raine, coming-of-age means coming closer to death.

At fifteen, AYA TSINTZIRAS' play, Rainfall, won an Honourable Mention in the Tarragon Theatre's Under 20 Playwright Competition. Now completing her degree in Political Science and Media Studies at the University of Toronto, Aya has rewritten the play into this novel. Her interest in anorexia developed during her teenage years after a classmate died due to complications of this eating disorder. Deeply affected by this tragedy, Aya wants young adults to be more aware of the consequences of what she was told then was a "mysterious illness."

Aya Tsintziras' profile page

• Commended, Best Books for Kids & Teens -- Canadian Children's Book Centre

Pretty Bones is a frightening look into the mind of a teenage victim of anorexia...I would definitely recommend it. It's some serious thought-provoking stuff.

astormofwords.net blog post

The writing is succinct, powerful, and subtle at the same time. Tsintziras' prose style is engaging and engrossing, pulling the reader into Raine's head and her perceptions of herself... Pretty Bones is important and a must-have for library shelves.
Recommended.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"Tsintziras does a great job getting the reader hooked..."

VOYA (U.S.)

Rated G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
The genius in this book lies in its ability to communicate to the reader the depth of Raine's denial without resorting to overt statement...for a school age-reader, the consequent insight should have more impact than a more dramatic presentation.

Resource Links

Pretty Bones (SideStreets)