A Work in Progress

A Work in Progress
Jarrett Lerner
Aladdin, 2023
368 pages
Grades 5-8
Narrative Poetry

Will's life changes in fourth grade when a school bully calls him "fat" in front of a hall full of kids. Suddenly, Will realizes that the accusation must be true and that he must be a disgusting human being. Will goes home and destroys all of his clothes so that his mother will take him shopping and he can get everything to be baggy on his frame. Will slowly distances himself from his friends and starts a spiral of depression, distorted body image, and disordered eating. Now in middle school, Will is lonely and paranoid, knowing that the world must think that he is a monster. One day, while eating lunch alone behind the school, a boy comes by to ride his skateboard. Markus keeps coming and eventually starts talking to Will and shares his story. Will listens, still reluctant to trust Markus with his own tale, and tries to keep him at arm's length. One day the constant starving himself catches up with Will and he passes out in the hall at school. Will Markus still want to be his friend? Will the other kids hate him even worse? Can Will keep living his secretly miserable life indefinitely?

This is a very sad fictionalized memoir based on the author's actual experiences that will appeal to readers who like this sort of thing. The poems are beautiful and sincere. Reader's hearts will break as they spend time in Will's shoes and will certainly empathize with his situation. Kids with similar troubles will find this book to be a game-changer and others will become more sympathetic to peers after reading. The plot is somewhat linear and clear-cut, making this book an easy, if difficult in content, read. The format is fun. The story appears to be Will's notebook with lined paper pages and sketches throughout drawn by Will. Because of the formating, the book reads very quickly, though packing a large emotional punch. I had to put the book down a few times because I was getting too upset by it, but finally had to finish the story to make sure that Will was okay. I found the parents frustrating for most of the story, but they ended up to be allies in Will's healing once they discovered the extent of his troubles. The ending is ultimately hopeful, though not perfect, and readers will leave with a sense that the troubled protagonist is on the road to recovery. This story will fill a much needed hole in school and library middle grade collections.