Kim: Empty Inside: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager

By Beatrice Sparks

I am so scared.
I feel like I'm silently screaming for help
and no one pays any attention of tries to hear me.
I can't control anything anymore.
It's all out to get me!

When Kim can't handle things, she eats. Then she purges. Sometimes she fasts. She knows she isn't as thin as the other girls on her gymnastics team, and she's worried that now, away from home for the first time as a college freshman, she won't be able to live up to expectations -- especially her own. Eating is the one thing she can control -- or can she?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9780062012746

Beatrice Sparks

Beatrice Sparks is a family and adolescent therapist who edited the diary that formed the basis for Go Ask Alice, and has since edited many diaries on topics such as gangs, AIDS, and teen pregnancy in the 1988 Annie's Baby. She lives in Provo, UT.

Reviews for Kim

[Diana DiGregorio · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love in her “Annonymous” books how at least when the book ends on a cliff hanger we get some explanation as to what happens to the character we’ve just been with for however long. However in this book it just ends and it leaves the reader questioning “did she get help?” “Did she die as most others do in this authors books?” I assume this could possibly be the goal of the ending as it could be quite scary to some not knowing exactly what this terrible disease did to our main character but it’d still be nice knowing for sure. In a perfect world I suppose. I did love it though and I felt so drawn to the characters and their struggles aging into the adult world!

[mblaze_6 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Written in diary format, this book follows the struggles of Kim through the last year of high school and the first year of college. The only thing Kim feels like she can control is her eating, which leads to her anorexia and bulimia. I struggled to follow this book. There were many parts that seemed inconsistent. On one page it stated she met her friend's parents, and a few pages later it said she was nervous about when she would meet them for the first time. I felt as though many parts just rambled on. This book does do a good job of getting the reader into the mind of someone struggling with an eating disorder, and it also shows how to get help. It also talks about the real struggles that kids face when they first go off to college, which is good for seniors to be aware of. I would recommend this book to girls who are in middle school or high school. It would also be beneficial for a health class that is studying the causes and effects of eating disorders.