This book was a great story of middle school, bullies, and fitting in. But it was also a heartfelt story about the difficulties of having a disorder few people have heard of. I very much enjoyed it!

I loved this book. Picky eaters everywhere will appreciate how carefully the author represents selective eating. I worried and cheered and laughed out loud!

An interesting middle grade novel about a topic that is rarely discussed in literature, Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), with a rare male protagonist. Ben is largely realistically depicted, as are most of his friends and tormentors (his parents are more like caricatures, but it's not unusual for kids at that age to make summary judgements about their parents behaviors and intentions).

A middle school saga of the usual things – hero kid gets socially unacceptable science partner, hero kid fails to pull fit girl with best teeth, hero kid hates the idea of school camp trips – all with the added frisson of him being psychologically uber-picky with his food. Handsomely, it starts to read like a drama novel and not a lesson in said picky-eater disorder, and it's enjoyable, even if it does cover so, so many beats we know and recognise from other stories. But it does get a bit heavy-handed with the parents being split in their attitudes to the circumstance, before diverting into what seems (to a British adult at least) far too much about the school council elections. You just kind of hoped, also, that a kid who knows how hard it is to have his reduced diet and not get picked on, was not so judgemental about table mates and lab partners, etc, however realistic it might actually be. All that said, it's a fine traditional story arc, treated very well and quite intelligently, and the audience for whom this is going to be most relatable, most meaningful and most culturally relevant will find it a humdinger.

Ben Snyder has a complicated relationship with food. Right now, there are about ten things that he will actually eat. It's more than being a picky eater, Ben physically can't eat other foods. This hasn't been a big issue, but now Ben is in Middle School and different kids are starting to notice his habits. Ben is also running for student government, finds himself liking a girl, dealing with a bully, and finding new friendships. When a three-day history field trip to a colonial camp, complete with a mandatory colonial menu arises, Ben finds himself in a dilemma. He doesn't want to be singled out, but his diet requirements put him in a predicament.

Food Fight is a middle grade book showing a very realistic view of AFRID- Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Ben was an extremely relatable character and the writing showed an excellent point of view of a sixth grader. Ben dealt with changing friendships, crushes, bullying and taking on new challenges, all of the transitions that happen in middle school along with his eating disorder. I appreciated seeing AFRID from both Ben's point of view and his parents’ point of view. To Ben, this was just how he was, he didn't want to make anyone upset or make anything more difficult, he just wanted to stick to the foods he knew he could eat. His parents were worried about his health and his social life along with how it affected those around him. I was surprised that his parents took so long to get an actual diagnosis for Ben's eating and that they didn't make accommodations for the field trip. In the end, this is a story of Ben finding confidence and comfort with himself and allowing others in.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

*I received a free arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I could see this book being popular. The protagonist is kind of a little irritating at some parts, especially the misogny, but it's definitely styled after how pre-teens would handle situations, friendships in trouble, drama and stress. It also introduces a problem that doesn't get a lot of recognition, which I very much appreciate. It introduces it in a way that describes how it affects the actual sufferer, and the various people in their lives. I wasn't amazed by the ending, it kind of felt rushed and predictable, but again, it's made for children, so it fits into their world better than a story with a bunch of open-ended questions.

#netgalley #foodfight #foodfightbylindabdavis

Ben has ARFID, a food intake disorder, and is worried about eating when his class will be taking a three day trip to a colonial farm. Ben thinks he needs a strategy for people who may question his eating habits. When Ben agrees to go to a therapist the doctor tells him you can go public, and it will be up to people to decide how they react. When Ben is accused of doing something at the camp, he has a choice. He remembers “ when you finally become an expert in being yourself, navigating the world gets a whole lot easier.” What happens?

This is such a great account of what kids go through, how something that bothers them can affect them and what they can do about it. It is funny and supportive and relatable.
Such a great read, the characters are realistic to those in school. Could not put the book down

Food Fight by Linda Davis tells the story of Ben, a 6th grader who struggles with Selective Eating Disorder (often referred to as "picky eating") and has a very limited number of foods he feels comfortable eating. As he transitions to middle school, he starts to face some teasing and bullying about his unusual eating patterns. Readers follow Ben's first few weeks of middle school where he: runs for vice president to impress a girl, sees a therapist about her eating challenges, gets assigned a girl he isn't a fan of as his science lab partner, and obsesses over an upcoming field trip to a colonial farm where eating will definitely be a problem. This Middle Grade novel addresses themes and messages like: peer pressure, bullying, friendship, standing up for yourself and the value of letting go of secrets. The wording/language is age appropriate for readers in the grades 5-8 range, and there is very limited mature content. Some of the bullying is physical, including one character getting a nose bleed, and the word "crap" is used a bit, but nothing inappropriate for this age group. Additionally, shining a light on a different type of eating disorder and showing that people experiencing something like this are not alone, makes this book a great choice for classroom libraries and teachers wanting diverse characters. I would definitely recommend this book! Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read and review it, you can preorder your copy now for the pub date on June 27th!

This book is great! I love the topic of selective eating disorder and how it affects the main character's life, because not only was it interesting but it was also educational, and I learned a lot about this disorder through the main character's experiences. I also loved how the story brought up a lot of other issues, not just the main one, the eating disorder. It talked about bullying, and friendships, and crushes, and it was really well written.

Food Fight had the tools to be a great, meaningful story, but in the end it fell flat. It literally felt like #everybodyclapped. I know it was hard for Ben to be honest to himself and others. I get it. But the ending was a strange fantasy land where everyone suddenly loved him and accepted him. Only moments before the grand reveal, he tried to hurt another child. But that was okay and swept under the rug because he had a grand reveal. I also felt like the author skirted around the relationship ARFID has with autism. Some of Ben's behavior and recollections made me think the therapist would see it as a possibility. Even if Ben didn't have autism, the lack of mention felt pointed. There were parts of this novel I enjoyed, like the class's trip to the colonial area. But the way Ben's social status completely eroded away due to HIS actions (not others!) and was miraculously fixed by a single proclamation... I just couldn't accept it.

Food Fight is about a boy named Ben who has an extremely restrictive diet. There is only a small list of foods he is able to eat. Everyone thinks Ben is just picky but Ben knows there's more to it than that. When Ben's class is set to spend three days at a colonial campsite he has to strategize how he will hide his eating habits while also avoiding the traditional colonial food that disgusts him. It is also a story about friendships and how they are strengthened and strained during the trials of middle school life. A good option for readers who like realistic fiction stories about kids finding their courage.

I recieved a free eARC of this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

I'm a picky eater. Between food allergies and sensory sensitivities, I have a lot of things I avoid. However, I can usually find something in a given setting which I can work with. Not so for Ben. Ben is smart, athletic, and has a few good friends going into middle school. He also has ARFID-Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. He only eats about 10 things, total, and it's even more picky than that. McDonald's fries and Chicken Nuggets are OK. Others are not. Penne pasta with just butter is OK, but not elbows. Hershey's kisses, not Hershey's bars.

When Ben enters middle school, his friends want to expand their friend circle, but that includes a bully who wants to make Ben's eating an issue, especially in front of the girl he likes. Ben also has a looming problem-a class trip to live at a historical reconstruction site for several days, including an authentic menu, of which one thing, total, is something Ben can even start to physically eat, leaves Ben in a situation where he can't hide.

This is an interesting book about a lesser known condition, and is likely to be relatable for many kids.