WISE GIRL: What I've Learned About Life, Love, and Loss
Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Sheryl Berk
Publisher
Autobiography
ISBN: 0743453247
176 pages

Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler has experienced more in her life than many people twice her age, including severe anorexia, paralysis from Lyme's Disease and extreme career changes. This book contains fun backstage tidbits about The Sopranos and the recording business, in addition to valuable insights about the many pressures of normal teen life.

Sigler is honest about her mistakes and discusses ways to help other young people avoid image problems. She even revealed that Sopranos producers were secretly auditioning other girls for her part as Meadow because she was so thin. Instead of using her fame to write a fluffy celebrity tell-all, Sigler is eager to have her written experiences help promote the National Eating Disorder Association, for which she is now a spokesperson.

Pictures that show Sigler in the worst stages of anorexia are powerful. The description of her secret 2 1/2 hour daily exercise routine is vivid, but the before and after pictures reinforce everything. A valuable chapter at the end also advises readers on the warning signs of anorexia and how to get help.

This is an important and enjoyable book for young women to read. Sigler's voice is refreshingly conversational, but a good editor should have helped her smooth over some of the language to do justice to the heartfelt topics she discusses. I hope she will continue to write, as she has a lot to share with readers.

   --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

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