A character that I can’t get out of my mind is Ellie from the book Starfish by Lisa Flipp because she taught me we deserve to be heard, to speak, to be noticed, and to not let what people think about us bring us down. In the beginning of the book, Ellie is bullied because of her weight. She cared what people thought of her and she was called names. Not only the people at her school but also her own mom and her brother judged her about her weight. Her mom thinks she’s overweight and wants her to get weight loss surgery. She does not want to get surgery and instead she tries her best to ignore what others say and find a way to cope. Ellie goes out to her pool and floats because it makes her feel weightless. This helps her cope when people are teasing her and she needs to take her mind off things. I connect to her problem because I have struggled with what people have said to me as well when I was younger, but have learned to overcome it just like Ellie. Ellie learned to be proud of who she is and she should accept herself. She learned this by the help of her therapist, her dad, and her friend Catalina. She finally sees herself as a loveable and beautiful person. I hope you like Starfish by Lisa Fipps and can learn that you should be proud of who you are and ignore what people think of you.