To ‘Mark’, for reading through the bits you’re in and not demanding I remove them. Sorry for slapping you that time at your party. And for calling you a dick. You’re pretty chill now. And you have a good sense of humour.
And same goes to Dave the Woman. There was a time the legal team thought we’d have to change your name to Steve the Woman to help protect your identity, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it somehow. Thanks for being cool about letting us use it.
To my Muse NYC family – Conor, Becca, Danielle, Veken, Derek, Jess, Chrissie, Dan, Tara and anyone else I may have forgotten – thank you for believing in me when I’ve often given up on myself. You’ve made my dreams come true … and then some!
To all the people reading this who might be struggling with an eating disorder or mental health issues. Help is within reach. You can be happy. I chat to many girls on Instagram who struggle with their body image, and allowing us to share our experiences has aided in so much of my recovery. So thank you, thank you, thank you.
And finally, to my family – especially to my mum, who has had to listen to me tirelessly ask for reassurance (thanks, OCD) for the last twenty years. Thanks for not throttling me at times I’m sure you would have very much liked to. I love you all so much.
xxx
THE BEGINNING
Let the conversation begin …
Follow the Penguin Twitter.com@penguinUKbooks
Pin ‘Penguin Books’ to your Pinterest
Like ‘Penguin Books’ on Facebook.com/penguinbooks
Listen to Penguin at SoundCloud.com/penguin-books
Find out more about the author and
discover more stories like this at Penguin.co.uk
PENGUIN BOOKS
UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia
India | New Zealand | South Africa
www.penguin.co.uk
www.puffin.co.uk
www.ladybird.co.uk
First published 2018
Text copyright © Charli Howard, 2018
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Names have been changed to protect the identity of the people mentioned.
Permission has been sought and obtained where real names are given.
All correspondence to:
Penguin Books
Penguin Random House Children’s
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL