Zero

by Diane Tullson

Kas is doing well at her new arts school--her art is progressing nicely, she is adjusting well to living away from home, and she has made friends--but she has a destructive secret that she cannot confide to anyone around her.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

185 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

About the author

Diane Tullson is a professional writer. She has published several books for young adults and written for magazines such as Canadian Living and Westworld. She has an MFA in Creative Writing, BA in English Literature, and has studied journalism and editing. Diane Tullson lives with her family near Vancouver, BC.

Reviews

[Eliana Lima · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book kind of just felt like something you would read in high school health class. Very after school special. While the eating disorder aspect felt authentic I felt like I didn't really get to know Kaz outside of her disorder so it was hard to be super invested. The romance felt pretty insta-love and Kaz was borderline Mary Sue (such an art prodigy omg!)

There were 3 wtf parts of this book for me. When Kaz stole animal ashes from the shelter I was like "why tho?" I guess we were supposed to be like "oh what an artistic soul" but I was just like "that's gross and disrespectful." Second moment was when she abruptly was raped and the rapist gave her some meth. That just felt out of nowhere. I guess it was supposed to show her self loathing but I felt like there wasn't enough attention given to the fact that she was raped. It was kind of just shrugged off. Finally, the ending scene where Marin cleaned off Kaz by spitting up water on her. Maybe I'm just ignorant but is that really that much more effective than plain old water?? It just seemed unnecessary.

The story outside of the parts about having an eating disorder didn't amount to much. The characters weren't exactly flat but not super memorable either. I did appreciate the extra info at the end and the disclaimers for people who are actually suffering. I hope this book helps teens who read it. For me, it was just something I've already seen and didn't really bring anything new to the table.

[Emily Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is only receiving 2 stars because the ending of the story was slightly engaging. Unfortunately, the rest of the book was a complete miss for me. There was very little plot development, character development, and the language lacked variety.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m going to talk about the book called “ZERO” written by Diane Tullson. To begin with, this book is mainly deal with the eating disorder.

Kas is the girl who is gifted at art however she thinks that she is not talented at all. She wants to be perfect because her goal is to be an artist. Her mom says “You’re incredibly gifted. Exceptionally driven. I have no doubt you can be what you want to be” (page 90). This make me feel that she wants to be the perfect person however she need to recognize that there is no perfect person in the world. I think that she is a talented person so if she tries to think very positively, she can overcome the bad feeling that she is not good at art. Through this book, it reminds me that whether talented or not, most of the people had thought they are not good at something. I’m not gifted in music so I always think negatively that I’m singing very badly and I can’t play any instruments very well.

Kas is the girl who is having an eating disorder. She always eats the low calorie food and refuse to eat the food that contains fat. She is not satisfying although she loses the weight. She is just keep doing the diet. People say that she is a person who is having an eating disorder however she doesn’t agree. I think this is the problem for both girl and boy but girl has more problems than boys because the girls want to be thin like a model. Although their weights are average, they think that they are fat. They start to refuse eating the food and make them to starve. I understand that the girls want to be thin but I think it is also fine to have average weight but not fat. From the internet news, I heard that many stars are starving because they think that they are fat. However, I think this is because the people are thinking that the star should be thin. Some people are commenting on the star’s photo that is published in internet. The people are criticizing to the stars that they are not thin. From that, the stars continue to do the diet with nonstop.

I think this book is okay... If you are interested in eating disorder, you can try to read this.

[Joanne_]

Diane Tullson is a known writer for hers books dedicated to teen’s reader such as the Edge and Red sea. Her next hit story Zero, where a girl name Kas got accepted into a prestigious high school of the arts and fate is welcoming her, to move into a small town where there’s no secrets hidden from one another. People are amazed at how Kas is such a perfect child and talented artist. But the thing is, Kas seem to being running away from her past. What happened when her pass caught up with her? Is she really who everyone thinks she is? What happened when the school threatens her of the thought of to call her parents up? What is she hiding from? Someone who so perfect what could possibly be a huge threat to her life? She has everything anyone could want she beautiful, smart, talented, has wonderfully friends and family who cares for her. Plus the loveliest boyfriend anyone can ask for. Will he be able to cure her of her wounds and scars stopping her from filling her dream and future?

This book puts you in a daze of deep thought of life, “I’m realistic. If I can’t deliver, then why try?” it puts you in thought of why always look down on yourself, why always compare yourself to the world and why so insecure? “Everything you touch will turn to dirt.” Every word of this story has meaning behind it. Why must your pain be for someone else happiness and approved. This story makes you open up your mind more and to be more observed and care for people in your life that you treasure for because you can never understand them 100% and know what the person is really going through unless your them.

Zero really know how to test your patient I am not a patient person but surprisingly this book made me wait though it all. It’s slow at the beginning but it all worth it at the end this helps by setting the emoition high, adjusting to the characters and the environment. When the climax comes it hits you hard and strong leaves you breathe taking. Leaving you with I need to reflect on my life and enjoying such a nice meaningful short story.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kas is a gifted artist who has been accepted into the exclusive Whitchurch School of the Arts. She boards with a local family as does budding musician, Jacob. Kas quickly makes friends with Marin, a beautiful young actress, and as a romance begins with Jacob it would seem that Kas' life is just about perfect. Kas is harboring a dark secret; she is both anorexic and bulemic. Her self-worth is the "zero" in the title and although the novel begins with Kas feeling fairly happy and content her inner turmoil soon takes over as she not only endangers her health and her very life, but her relationships with her two friends. She is spiraling out of control and no one seems to see that Kas is slowly killing herself.

This young adult novel is a very quick read and the author has added great information at the end detailing eating disorders, how to recognize them and how to help those who are suffering. Kas' story is well done except I don't feel that there is much depth to her background except that she has always wanted to be perfect.

[♥ Charlotte ♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

When we talk about plot, Zero deserves 4 stars. But description, plot-twist, and all the interesting stuff in-between? An unfortunate 2 stars.

This book sung a depressing truth about eating disorders, and the progression was sad but true, which made this book have a wonderful story. But there were no twists, barely any description, and only fewer and fewer lines of dialogue as the book came to close.
I would LOVE this to become a movie, but I don't think it was written very well.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad anorexia intro novel, if you're in middle school. I found the whole book well-structured, but too simplistic for a high-school-aged character. I don't know, there was just something missing. It had all the right ingredients - compelling side plots, very specific restriction/binge/purge scenarios, and a particularly idealistic/sweet spooning scene - but like its title, it seemed empty underneath.