Best Little Girl in the World

Rating:
Summary: Not the Best
Review: An eye opening look into the pysce of people suffering from anorexia nervosa. 15 year old Francesca appears to lead a fairly normal life. She is a pretty, all A student, who also happens to be a wonderfull dancer. One day at class her teacher and role model points out that she could stand to lose a few pounds, and " Kessa" is born. Kessa is stronger than Francesca ever was, Kessa doesn't need to eat, doesn't need to fill her body with such impurities as food. Kessa is thin thin thin, but never thin enough. Although heart wrenching, The Best Litttle Girl in the World shows a realistic look at the journey back to normality, and self acceptance.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed Feelings
Review: The book "Best Little Girl in The World" is both accurate in its discriptions of the dissorder, and innaccurate in the manner it which it begins. I started the book sometime in febuary, and didn't finish until april, mostly becase after the first few chapters, it was very easy to put down and forget about. I was not convinced of Kessa's problems, as they all seemed to happen far to fast. One minute she is a normal teenage girl, the next she is anorexic. As a sufferer from the dissorder myself, I had wished Levenkron had gone into much more detail on her past, when her eating dissorder really began. Most people think eating dissorders are the product of a diet gone astray, I agree, but I know this is not always the case. Like Kessa, I didn't start on a healthy diet, I started on restriction, and it wasn't long before it became anorexia. However, there are countless factors contributing to such an illness, which Levenkron seems to ignore. Another point which bothered me greatly was the fact that Kessa, standing at about 5'4" (I believe) was already a clinically anorexic weight when she 'began', most anorexics begin at a normal weight, and I couldn't help but wonder, why, if she had been so normal, was her weight so drastically low? After the first few dull chapters, I began to really enjoy the book. Able to disgregard Levenkrons lack of discription in the begining, he did a fantastic job illustrating the anorexic mind versus the real mind. The book gives one a better understanding of eating dissorders, but Levenkron seems to have rushed into it. My advice, is to painstakingly read the first few chapters, as they will allow you to thouroughly enjoy the middle and ending parts of the book.