Lois Metzger: A Trick of the Light

Anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders have the highest death rate of any psychological disorder—though I’m very pleased to say that all the young men I interviewed for this book are doing exceptionally well. One of the moms recently emailed me, triumphantly, her son’s healthy weight.

Andersen, Arnold, Leigh Cohn, and Thomas Holbrook. Making Weight: Healing Men’s Conflicts with Food, Weight, Shape & Appearance. Carlsbad, CA: Gürze Books, 2000.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls. New York: Viking, 2009.

Bryant-Waugh, Rachel, and Bryan Lask. Eating Disorders: A Parents’ Guide. Rev. ed. New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2004.

Costin, Carolyn. The Eating Disorder Sourcebook. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Lowell House, 1999.

Gottlieb, Lori. Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self. New York: Berkley Books, 2001.

Harryhausen, Ray, and Tony Dalton. An Animated Life. Foreword by Ray Bradbury. New York: Billboard Books, 2004.

Hautzig, Deborah. Second Star to the Right. New York: Puffin Books, 1999.

Hendricks, Jennifer. Slim to None: A Journey through the Wasteland of Anorexia Treatment. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Hornbacher, Marya. Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia. New York: HarperPerennial, 1998.

Levenkron, Steven. The Best Little Girl in the World. New York: Warner Books, 1979.

Lock, James, and Daniel Le Grange. Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder. New York: The Guilford Press, 2005.

———, W. Stewart Agras, and Christopher Dare. Treatment Manual for Anorexia Nervosa: A Family-Based Approach. New York: The Guilford Press, 2001.

Medoff, Jillian. Hunger Point: A Novel. New York: Regan Books, HarperCollins, 2002.

Menzie, Morgan. Diary of an Anorexic Girl: Based on a True Story. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003.

Sacker, Ira M., and Marc A. Zimmer. Dying to Be Thin: Understanding and Defeating Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia: A Practical, Lifesaving Guide. New York: Warner Books, 2001.

Sparks, Beatrice, ed. Kim: Empty Inside: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager. New York: HarperTeen, 2002.

Vizzini, Ned. It’s Kind of a Funny Story. New York: Miramax Books, Hyperion Paperbacks, 2007.

MANY THANKS TO:

My agent, Susan Cohen at Writers House, for her enthusiasm, kindness, and belief in this book, which is dedicated to her.

Her assistant, Brianne Johnson, who helped enormously with her insights and suggestions.

Kevin Webb, who was an intern at Writers House and who read an early draft and helped bring the book into focus and worked with me even after he left Writers House. He has an amazing eye and ear for story and language.

At Balzer + Bray, I am very grateful to Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray, and to Renée Cafiero, Alison Donalty, Ray Shappell, and Viana Siniscalchi.

The following people also helped along the way:

Jacob Hiss; Tony Hiss; Katharine L. Loeb, PhD, at Fairleigh Dic Mercury News reporter and current Sun-Sentinel reporter; Justin Roberts; Susan Roberts; and Niobe Way, professor of applied psychology at New York University.

I thank my lucky stars for my editor at Balzer + Bray, Jordan Brown. He is a spectacularly nice person, and funny and smart and warm, as well as a tremendously gifted editor. He helped give this book a mind and a soul.

LOIS METZGERwas born in Queens and has always written for young adults. She is the author of three previous novels and two nonfiction books about the Holocaust, and she has edited five anthologies. Her short stories have appeared in collections all over the world. Her writing has also appeared in The New Yorker , The Nation , and Harper’s Bazaar . She lives in Greenwich Village with her husband and son.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.comfor exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

Missing Girls

Ellen’s Case

Barry’s Sister

The Hidden Girl: A True Story of the Holocaust, with Lola Rein Kaufman

Yours, Anne: The Life of Anne Frank

Bones: Terrifying Tales to Haunt Your Dreams

Bites: Scary Stories to Sink Your Teeth Into

Be Careful What You Wish For: Ten Stories about Wishes

Can You Keep a Secret?: Ten Stories about Secrets

The Year We Missed My Birthday: Eleven Birthday Stories

Cover photo © 2013 by Howard Huang

Cover design by Ray Shappell and Erin Schell

Copyright © 2013 by Lois Metzger

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Metzger, Lois.

A trick of the light / Lois Metzger. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: Fifteen-year-old Mike desperately attempts to take control as his parents separate and his life falls apart.

ISBN 978-0-06-213308-3 (hardcover bdg. : alk. paper)

Epub Edition © APRIL 2013 ISBN 9780062133106

[1. Family problems—Fiction. 2. Anorexia nervosa—Fiction. 3. Eating disorders—Fiction. 4. High schools—Fiction. 5. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.M5677Tri 2013

[Fic]—dc23

2012019039

CIP

AC

13 14 15 16 17 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FIRST EDITION

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