The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller is Matt’s journey of coming to terms with his eating disorder.
Each chapter offers one of Matt’s life rules to the reader along with that day’s calorie count. He perceives himself as a disgusting, unlovable person who achieves superhero abilities by starving himself. By eating minimally, he notices every sense sharpen and his ability to handle difficult social situations improve.
This is important to him since he is trying to figure out what terrible thing happened to drive his older sister away from him and their mother. He feels that their mutual crush Tariq and his jock buddies are to blame. It also helps him navigate teen life as a gay male.
Spoiler- Over time, Matt realizes that his senses aren’t as acute as he thought. He comes dangerously close to dying (more than once) before being able to face the truth about himself and his family.
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