"Everybody knows me as Meadow Soprano, but there's a real girl behind that character," announces Sigler at the start of her chatty memoir. While the book will appeal to teen fans of HBO's The Sopranos, aspiring actors will also appreciate her direct discussion of what it takes to succeed in show business. This 20-year-old Long Island native offers readers insight into the "real girl" with a candid if cliché-riddled commentary on her life, beginning with her childhood, when she made her first foray into acting through community theater. A perfectionist, Sigler as a youngster felt she never lived up to her self-imposed high expectations and notes, "With my self-image so fragile, the door was wide open for problems to develop. My eating disorder just snuck up on me, but once it was there, it was like Alice falling down the white rabbit's hole." She discusses behavior that resulted in a 30-pound weight loss in seven months, as well as the steps she took to control her disorder. She also fills many pages with particulars about The Sopranos, describing how she landed her role, her relationships with the other actors, her favorite scenes and her sudden celebrity ("Someone pinch me 'cause this couldn't be happening!") Sigler emerges as a likable person as she dispenses tidbits of advice in a conversational tone. An afterword presents information on identifying and addressing eating disorders. Ages 12-up. (Aug.)
