Louder Than Hunger

By: John Schu

Narrated by: Jeff Ebner, John Schu

“Every so often a book comes along that is so brave and necessary, it extends a lifeline when it’s needed most. This is one of those books.” —Katherine Applegate, author of the Newbery Medal–winning, The One and Only Ivan

Revered teacher, librarian, and story ambassador John Schu explores anorexia—and self-expression as an act of survival—in a wrenching and transformative novel-in-verse.

But another voice inside me says,
We need help.
We’re going to die.

Jake volunteers at a nursing home because he likes helping people. He likes skating and singing, playing Bingo and Name That Tune, and reading mysteries and comics aloud to his teachers. He also likes avoiding people his own age . . . and the cruelty of mirrors . . . and food. Jake has read about kids like him in books—the weird one, the outsider—and would do anything not to be that kid, including shrink himself down to nothing. But the less he eats, the bigger he feels. How long can Jake punish himself before he truly disappears? A fictionalized account of the author’s experiences and emotions living in residential treatment facilities as a young teen with an eating disorder, Louder than Hunger is a triumph of raw honesty. With a deeply personal afterword for context, this much-anticipated verse novel is a powerful model for muffling the destructive voices inside, managing and articulating pain, and embracing self-acceptance, support, and love.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF with resources from the book.

Beautiful & heart-wrenching

John Schu’s beautiful book can be difficult to listen to in places because of how loud and cruel The Voice can be, but it’s an incredibly important and powerful read for anyone who has ever done battle with or loved someone doing battle with a Voice that was so loud and cruel that it drowned out reason, hunger, light, and love. Jake shows us how we begin to talk back to our own dark and anxious thoughts. As someone who, like Jake, was an 8th grader in 1996 and who loves musicals, books, art, and theater, I felt close to Jake and very invested in his recovery. I will give this book to my teen to read and let my tween read it in a few years. Thank you, John Schuh, for being a Voice that will help young people feel less alone.

Must read !

I am here in tears after the post credits of this book!
I am so grateful for reading this book!

A raw and powerful story of how a young man overcame disordered eating.

A raw and powerful story of how a young man overcame disordered eating. John will pull you in and you will not be able to stop listening/reading.

You Should Read This Too

I am a young reader that reads a lot of books, but my friend recommend this book because it talks about eating disorders. As a skinny person it was always hard for me too gain weight because I don't want to become "Fat". But reading this story about Jake makes me want to gain weight. I give this book a 5/5, recommend you read this too.

Powerful and worthy story!

Beautiful story that will bring hope for anyone struggling with eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and self-worth. Every school and public library should have this story in print format.