Kaslik, Ibi 1973–

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Kaslik, Ibi 1973–

Personal

Born August 20, 1973, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Education: Concordia University, M.A. (creative writing and English literature).

Addresses

Home and office—Toronto, Ontario, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Author, teacher, and freelance journalist.

Awards, Honors

Best First Novel Award shortlist, Amazon.com/Books in Canada, 2004, Best Young-Adult Novel designation, Canadian Library Association, 2005, and Borders Original Voice award, 2006, all for Skinny.

Writings

Skinny, HarperCollins (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004, Walker & Company (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals.

Sidelights

Ibi Kaslik has a flair for thought-provoking topics, as readers of her debut novel Skinny can attest. Skinny centers on a twenty-something medical student named Giselle, who suffers from anorexia. Kaslik noted in an interview with the Danforth Review online that the development of Skinny began in a creative-writing class during graduate school. She was inspired to write a book about anorexia because it was "a topic that I experienced directly in my personal life and social group," as she explained in her interview. "I never saw eating disorders represented in the media discourse in the way it played itself out in life." According to Kaslik, her goal in writing the novel "was to demystify clichés about anorexia."

In Skinny Kaslik exposes the stereotypes surrounding the eating disorder by providing an intimate look into the anorexic protagonist's mindset, revealing the many contradictions within the young woman's thoughts and perceptions. Kaslik also weaves additional themes into her novel, including aspects of sibling rivalry and the struggles of identity experienced by children born to immigrant parents. A Kirkus Reviews critic noted that the author's prose is enriched by "intense and masterful poetic imagery" and added that the novelist tells her story "with clarity and truth." Kim Dane, in a review of Kaslik's debut novel for School Library Journal, commented that Skinny "hits the mark with characters with whom teens will empathize, and tackles a relevant and painful subject with grace."