Review
"Starbuck responds to societal pressure to strive for physical perfection with this lighthearted and laid-back book. She's no stranger to the influence of advertising and honestly shares her struggles to avoid falling into a snare. Ultimately, Starbuck observes, God loves His creations just as they are, and artificial means aren't required to maintain a relationship with the heavenly Father." (Elizabeth Wisz, CBA Retailers & Resources, July 2010)
"In twenty-seven brief, funny and reflective chapters [Starbuck] helps us discover why God really gave us bodies and what we can do with them." (Jonathan Broscious, "What's New on the Bookshelf,", WRGN, February 11, 2011)
"Margot Starbuck reminds us of what's most important: being who God made us to be. That's a truth any young adult, woman or man struggling with body image will never forget." (Michelle LaRowe Conover, 2004 INA Nanny of the Year and author of Nanny to the Rescue! Series)
"Margot Starbuck navigates the complexities of self-image, appearance, our bodies and beauty with humor, insight and wisdom. Get ready to be both entertained and moved. You will be laughing out loud one moment, then suddenly challenged with biblical truths that will transform your thinking and inspire change. Reading Unsqueezed is a truly liberating experience." (Ann Capper, R.D., C.D.N., nutrition editor, FINDINGbalance.com, and author of Big Thighs, Tight Jeans (Should Jan Go on a Diet?))
"Margot Starbuck is one unique cookie. And her countercultural message says you are too so ditch the 'culture's insane enslavement to physical beauty' and get on with getting okay with yourself, just the way you are. In a quirky, often funny, über real and refreshing altogether unhomogenized voice she lays out an argument against valuing bodies for how they appear. Unsqueezed is unsettling. Even if you disagree on some of her points, she provokes thought. The writing also surprises―in a book on body image she manages to address social justice. Fantastic. Cheers to Margot." (Lindsey O'Connor, author of Moms Who Changed the World)
"One of the best books I've seen that gives genuine encouragement to women regarding who they are and becoming all that God wants them to be. I love the emphasis placed on relationship rather than appearance. Every woman in the world needs the truth found in these pages!" (Susie Shellenberger, editor of SUSIE Magazine)
"Unsqueeze from the skinny jeans and enjoy the humor, stories and practical tips Margot has squeezed into these pages instead! This is a book for real women who have real thighs, real pimples and real issues with accepting the bodies God gave them. Margot assures and reassures us of God's amazing love for us just the way we are. Couch pants, here I come!" (Amy Nappa, author of Thirsty)
"What are bodies for? With wit and humor Margot Starbuck answers this question and shows us our distorted thinking in regard to our female bodies. With gentle prodding she shows us how to see our bodies through God's eyes. She helps us laugh at ourselves without ever laughing at us. Give this book to your girlfriends and you will start a conversation about the beauty dilemma that plagues Christian women." (Lilian Calles Barger, author of Eve's Revenge)
"Margot Starbuck finally says what all of us are thinking and, with God obviously whispering in her ear, tells us what to do with it. A must-read for any woman of any age who has ever wrestled with her body image. And who hasn't?" (Nancy Rue, author of Everybody Tells Me to Be Myself but I Don't Know Who I Am)
"In a time of rising cultural backlash against unrealistic standards of beauty and value, Margot Starbuck is a fun, fresh voice. And a true woman." (Constance Rhodes, CEO, FINDINGbalance, and cofounder and director, True Campaign (truecampaign.org))
"This book is brilliant! Since beginning to work with eating disorders I've read a lot of books out there on women's relationships with food and their bodies. I found Unsqueezed honest, insightful, challenging and laugh-out-loud funny. It is now at the top of my list for books on food and body image issues. Margot writes with authenticity, heart and a thoroughly biblical understanding of how God designed us to understand the human body. I highly recommend it." (Travis Stewart, ministry relations, Remuda Ranch Treatment Center)
"Occasionally, someone comes along and challenges you to think―really think―about what it means to follow Jesus in this body you've been given. Unsqueezed did what a book really ought to do: it made me think. This book is the best sort of 'ouch.'" (Paula Rinehart, author of What's He Really Thinking?)
About the Author
Margot Starbuck is a writer and speaker who cares deeply about what it means to follow Jesus in the sneakers, pumps or Doc Martens in which we find ourselves. She is passionate about communicating God's great love for the world--inextricably bound to God's love for individuals--in print and in speech. Margot studied art at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. At the beach and in dorm rooms, she began to notice the bind in which women find themselves today, specifically as they're pinched by the culture's insistence on the value of appearances. She was further equipped to process these issues theologically at Princeton Seminary. Today, Margot continues to be energized by the kingdom reality of God's big plan for our bodies which have been called good. Her first book, The Girl in the Orange Dress, describes the way she came to know that the God who "so loved the world" cared deeply for her. Her second book, Unsqueezed, is about that inextricable love setting people free to be agents of the new kingdom Jesus ushered in. When she's not writing books, Margot pops up online in places like Relevant, Kyria and New Christian Voices. Though disheartened by much of Christian culture's silent insistence on keeping up appearances--namely, by simply doing it--Margot is regularly inspired by those countercultural heroes and communities who are exercising different practices. (For a sane perspective on body image, she recommends TrueCampaign, an organization partnering with Food for the Hungry to transfer resources from personal self-improvement to global survival.) Right now, Margot is writing a lot about what it looks like for normal-ish folks to exercise love and justice in our cars, at the grocery store and in our neighborhoods. When audiences invite her to speak about how we can live with less stress, or spend more time with God, or grow in our faith, she still often seems to end up right there where the recycled rubber meets the road.
