Girls under Pressure
Encyclopedia
Girls under Pressure is the second book in the Girls series, written by Dame Jacqueline Wilson
, DBE, a noted English author who writes fiction
for children. It was published in 1998, the sequel to Girls in Love
and followed by Girls out Late
. It is aimed at pre-teen and teenage readers.
Like the rest of the series, Girls under Pressure is told from the viewpoint of Eleanor "Ellie" Allard, a chubby thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her father, her stepmother, Anna, and her little half-brother, Eggs.
The story starts where Ellie and her two best friends, Magda and Nadine, are Christmas
shopping at the Flowerfields Shopping Centre. While they shop, they notice a large buzz of an event going on upstairs. Nadine wonders if it is television. Magda replies, "Wow, I hope so" and steers the other two upstairs.
It turns out to be a modelling
competition for Spicy magazine, which Ellie discovers after seeing a lot of pretty and thin teenage girls getting their photos taken. Ellie stares in horror as she realises what she has been in the queue for. She witnesses Magda and Nadine being photographed, seeing how Nadine is "model-girl" thin. It is Ellie's turn to be photographed, but she runs away, pushing through the queue as she goes, with the result that one of the girls says, "She's far too fat!" (for modelling). Ellie, hurt and upset, leaves and goes home. This is where her obsessive dieting starts and she battles with a messy form of dieting, making herself sick once or twice, although it is not actually an eating disorder as she finds it very easy to recover as soon as she realises she must stop.
It worsens when Nadine gets through to the first round of the Spicy modelling competition. Ellie tries to be supportive but envies all of the models and their bodies. However, Nadine is not chosen to go through to the next round and the two quarrel, but make it up on the way home. Meanwhile, Magda has been on a date with Mick and is nearly a victim of date-rape.
Ellie once did an Art project with Zoe, a highly intelligent student who has been put up a year to take her GCSEs early. Ellie is motivated to lose weight by not eating as Zoe had a "biggish bum" and now she has "amazing cheekbones", due to her lack of food and lots of exercise. However, Ellie eventually stops after hearing that Zoe got so thin she collapsed and nearly died of heart failure. She goes to visit the hospital Zoe is in, and she is shocked by how sad and small Zoe looks. So, she promptly stops her diet, as she does not want to die.
Jacqueline Wilson
Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, FRSL is an award-winning English author, known for her vast and diverse work in children's literature. Her novels have been adapted numerous times for television, and commonly deal with such challenging themes as adoption, divorce and mental illness...
, DBE, a noted English author who writes fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
for children. It was published in 1998, the sequel to Girls in Love
Girls in Love (novel)
Girls in Love is the first book in the Girls series, written by Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, a noted English author who writes fiction for children and young teenagers. It was first published in 1997...
and followed by Girls out Late
Girls out Late
Girls out Late is the third book in the Girls series written by award-winning author, Jacqueline Wilson, DBE. It includes the introduction of Russell, a boy who Ellie, Magda and Nadine meet while eating in McDonalds...
. It is aimed at pre-teen and teenage readers.
Like the rest of the series, Girls under Pressure is told from the viewpoint of Eleanor "Ellie" Allard, a chubby thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her father, her stepmother, Anna, and her little half-brother, Eggs.
The story starts where Ellie and her two best friends, Magda and Nadine, are Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
shopping at the Flowerfields Shopping Centre. While they shop, they notice a large buzz of an event going on upstairs. Nadine wonders if it is television. Magda replies, "Wow, I hope so" and steers the other two upstairs.
It turns out to be a modelling
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
competition for Spicy magazine, which Ellie discovers after seeing a lot of pretty and thin teenage girls getting their photos taken. Ellie stares in horror as she realises what she has been in the queue for. She witnesses Magda and Nadine being photographed, seeing how Nadine is "model-girl" thin. It is Ellie's turn to be photographed, but she runs away, pushing through the queue as she goes, with the result that one of the girls says, "She's far too fat!" (for modelling). Ellie, hurt and upset, leaves and goes home. This is where her obsessive dieting starts and she battles with a messy form of dieting, making herself sick once or twice, although it is not actually an eating disorder as she finds it very easy to recover as soon as she realises she must stop.
It worsens when Nadine gets through to the first round of the Spicy modelling competition. Ellie tries to be supportive but envies all of the models and their bodies. However, Nadine is not chosen to go through to the next round and the two quarrel, but make it up on the way home. Meanwhile, Magda has been on a date with Mick and is nearly a victim of date-rape.
Ellie once did an Art project with Zoe, a highly intelligent student who has been put up a year to take her GCSEs early. Ellie is motivated to lose weight by not eating as Zoe had a "biggish bum" and now she has "amazing cheekbones", due to her lack of food and lots of exercise. However, Ellie eventually stops after hearing that Zoe got so thin she collapsed and nearly died of heart failure. She goes to visit the hospital Zoe is in, and she is shocked by how sad and small Zoe looks. So, she promptly stops her diet, as she does not want to die.