The Moth Girl - Book Review

 

Anna is a normal high school student who makes good grades and wins races on her cross-country team.  She has a good group of friends, loves shopping at thrift shops, and attends a few parties, but overall, she is pretty average.  All of this changes one late August afternoon, as she is running with her teammates, shortly before her sophomore year is set to begin.  As she runs, her feet become lighter, her pace faster, and she begins leaping, rather than running.  As the first cross-country meet grows closer, Anna begins craving sugar, feels energy pulsing all around her and cannot sleep.  These strange symptoms become painful, and during the race, that is her only focus.  Feeling her muscles fading, and the pain attacking her arches, bones and tendons, and to the astonishment to her teammates, Anna blacks out. After an ER visit and being sent to a specialist, Anna learns that she has a rare disease called lepidopsy, which causes symptoms similar to the behavior of moths: floating, attraction to light, sugar cravings, and even more serious symptoms that could lead to death. As she struggles to cope with her new diagnosis, she pulls away from her friends, fearing their lack of understanding and befriends Kristi, a loner classmate with whom she is assigned a project. She attends a weekly support group at the hospital and comes to the realization that her life as she had planned it is slowly changing.  Anna’s story is one of life change, acceptance, hope and finding purpose in the most unlikely situations.