Best Little Girl in the World

Rating:
Summary: Struggling
Review: Struggling

Imagine what it would be like to be anorexia, and having to try and deal with it yourself. That is how this girl names Kessa is. I would recommend the book The Best Little Girl in the World to people who want to know what it is like to have the disease of anorexia nervosa because, it gives a lot of information on that subject.
As Kessa got into her mind that thinner is that Winner she thought she was in control of her body. For instance her parents sent her to two different psychiatrists and she was thinking to herself that she didn't need them. I think that both of the psychiatrists were trying there best to help her but she wouldn't let them. Also, I am sure that she wished that she was better before she was forced into the hospital. That is until Sandy Sherman came along and helped Kessa while she was in that hospital. If Sandy didn't befriend Kessa she would have been dead. He was more like the kind of doctor that didn't make you do what they thought was best for you but he gave her choices. It looks to me that Keaa just needed some attention. She also needed someone who could be trust worthy for her and at the same time to help her through her hard times.
As the book got more detailed it also got more intense, to make me want to read more. For instance when Kessa fell down in the hospital all these different things were going on and she was nearly dead. For me it made me want to read a faster and not want to put the book down because I wanted to know right then what was going to happen to her. the author put so much activity into it that it almost made me feel like I was there. Also when the Doctors were putting the tubes in her to help her live was another intense moment. Just the way that it was described felt like I was the one sitting there not knowing what was going on. It also helped to be able to know what it was like for Kessa to be laying there having all these different types of thoughts going through her head. All these different parts in the book made me want to read more and not want to put the book down it was an interesting and intense book.
Overall this book is filled with extreme excitement and from seeing what it's like in Kessa's point on view. I would personally recommend this book to anybody but probably more towards the people who want to know how it is to be an anorexic and to know more about it.

Rating:
Summary: Anorexia Nervosa-The Disease That Kills, or Does it?
Review: Anorexia nervosa. Is it possible to ever overcome such a disease? Teenage girls, the frequent victims, can undergo life long tribulations as a result of the incomprehensible, terrifying malady. Based of real life patients, the mind boggling book, The Best Little Girl in the World, reveals the unexpected crooks of the character's traumas through anorexia nervosa.

As the pounds dropped like a plane with busted engines, Kessa's physical condition demanded that someone rescue it from its inevitable crash. Prior to Kessa being in charge and determined to lose weight, she distortedly pictured herself as fat old Francesca; thus deciding to cruelly deny herself any substance to survive. The majority of girls feel pudgy at least once in their life, I know I have, but this young lady took things to ghastly extremes. With what she considered self-discipline and control, in actuality was bondage to the fear of food. As Kessa's weight trickled away and her first psychologist left her off worse than she had come, her mother Grace apprehensively decided to give Dr. Sherman a shot. As the author portrays and unique bond developing between Kessa and Sherman that intertwined emotion and concern, Sherman's infectious charm deepens the plot as he helps Kessa to freely express her self. After being constrained to the hospital and hitting rock bottom, Sherman began to use his intelligence and wits to uncover what was actually inflicting Kessa's mental torment. The result of tossing normal feelings of being overweight into a blender caused Kessa's world to become one of confusion, hunger, anxiety, and near ruins, as she uncontrollably lost weight.

This book, directed towards teenage girls, radiated with genuine involvement between the main character and others and gave the perspectives of all those around her. Through the author's studies he was able to gather enough information to make this book realistic fiction. I strongly feel that this is what truly enhances the story and entices the reader to continue on. Following the interesting emotional rituals and feeling of this young girl undoubtedly contributed potent diversity to the story. Throughout this book it focused on what an adolescent female was going through. For best enjoyment, being able to relate and sympathize with Kessa is significant and I speculate that teenage girls are the best candidates, due to their age and gender similarities. The excessive emotional confusion and mood swings that Kessa encounters are possibly more than what girls in everyday life deal with, but I know that they all have or know someone who has had comparable situations to some degree. I imagine the correlation between Kessa's experiences and any young woman's is what the author was trying to accomplish while getting his point across.

Kessa's remaining journey arouses many more issues that one can connect to with things from their life, and also shows whether or not it's possible to conquer this dreadful illness. The complexity of the plot increases as time continues because Dr. Sherman broadens the horizons while seeking new possibilities regarding the origin of Kessa's affliction. Once further on, it is discovered that the desire to be thin may not be what anorexia nervosa is about. Sometimes what one does greatly affect others and what they do, and they may not even realize it. It's essential to always be conscience of one's actions, because they may be having an impact on someone else in a way that was never intended or dreamed of.

Rating:
Summary: Little Girl Gone Awry
Review: The book The Best Little Girl in the World is a timeless story of a girl going through life, looking for attention, and finding it unlikely, and dangerous ways. Francesca was a young girl going through life's changes, unable to handle the stress of growing up, she decided to take action. Afraid of rejection, she tries to become a poster girl for her dance instructor. Unfortunately, things go terribly awry. Now she is trapped in a swirl of events that could ultimately lead to her death. In the end Francesca is a troubled girl looking for attention.

Francesca Dietrich is a 15 year old girl living in New York during the nine-teen seventies. To her parents she is the perfect child; to herself she is an abomination. In an attempt to gain the affections of her dance instructor she goes on a diet hoping to make herself a better dancer. In the process she picks up strange eating habits, she even goes so far as to change her name. Now she insists on being referred to as "Kessa" insisting that it will make her a stronger person (pg. 11). For example, as Kessa tries to lose weight she does not feel the hunger pains that plagued Francesca, and soon she has lost the weight she was trying to lose. In fact, she has lost too much weight, her pediatrician, Dr. Gordon, diagnoses her with Anorexia Nervosa. Now her family must decide how to help her, and they must do it quickly. With the help of Francesca's pediatrician they begin to find hope.

Before things get better for Francesca, they get worse. Francesca now has even more to deal with, and she doesn't know how to handle it. She has been admitted into the hospital, and is progressively getting worse. That is, until Dr. Sherman, her psychiatrist is called in to take action. He is Kessa's only hope for survival, and he knows this. In his own way he is able to gain the trust of the girl, and slowly she starts to understand her problem. Dr. Sherman is soon able to convince her that her choice of how to deal with her problems was not a good one, and starts her on the road to recovery. Though Francesca's illness will never truly go away, there is now, at least a little hope for her survival.

Francesca was just a lonely girl looking for acceptance, and attention from her parents and teachers. Though she may have been looking for it in all the wrong ways, she still was able to find it. Though her journey to this point may have been a long arduous, she was still able to come out of it on top.

Rating:
Summary: the Best little girl in the world
Review: Imagine one person so deathly afraid of loosing control, they would do almost anything to dominate their body. This is how Francesca Dietrich felt in the story The Best Little Girl In The World. Francesca had no knowledge how far the starvation would go, and how far it would lead to her ideal body she had wanted. Through this story Francesca realizes how far she is in her dark obsession.

As Francesca sits is ballet she watches her instructor madam's Body. She began to notice how perfect she was and how awful her body appeared. Francesca, only weighing 98 pounds, though in her mind she was fat. Thus, Francesca takes matters in her own hands and resolves to starving her self thinner. She wanted to be in complete control almost to the point that she would she life to be a new person that she called Kessa . Francesca's parents began to worry as she refuses to eat and begins unusual rituals to get her mind off food. I think the author should have given more of an explanation for Kessa's fear of losing control with food. Perhaps by giving her diet some mistake in which she consumes more then she wanted to give a reason for her fear. Kessa needs to be more of a person and less of a model. She shouldn't worry about if she looks fatter then her Instructor because her body will look like that in time. As a result , Kessa self conscience is leading her to do something extremely deadly.
Kessa's parents soon see the changes in her body and appearance that they take her to see multiple doctors. In an addition, she will soon be admitted to the hospital and will find Sandy Sherman a doctor who is determined to stay on the case and tries to help her overcome her fears. Yet, Kessa is so entrenched in her illness that when her weight falls to 63 and a half pounds she nearly dies from her circulatory shutting down. Hoping that this would take her back to reality and help her see what she is doing is really bad for her body. As her fears take over her mind Dr. Sherman tries to ultimate them and helps her see that eating again will not make her fat but will make her healthy again. I could not image the stress that this has caused on the family. I thought it was kind of unrealistic because I thought that she would have fainted from all that nutrition that she had lost from not eating. But hopefully she will go on the road to recovery.

As a result I have learned so much from this book about the disease and the pain it has put people through. I would recommend this book to women of all ages so they will learn about this disease and see what this teen has done to be picture perfect. Kessa got her ideal body it soon ended herself on a rollercoaster near death.

Rating:
Summary: Anorexia, and the Harships it Causes
Review: Feeling as if there is no way out, no one to reach out to, and scared. Scared of food, scared of people, and scared of life. This is the feeling Francesca Dietrich, in The Best Little Girl in the World, experiences while she has an eating disorder called Anorexia Nervosa. Throughout this story, Francesca encounters the hardships of life and the obsessive habits this horrible disease causes.

Francesca had no idea this ritual would get so out of hand, to the point where she must be put into the hospital for several months. It all started when she was in dance class and begins to compare herself to others. She sees herself as, "a five-foot four, ninety-eight-pound monster" (pg. 10). With this thought running through her mind, it causes her to have the desire to take on a new identity. This brings her to call herself Kessa. Soon enough Kessa finds herself starving her body, making herself throw-up, and beginning obsessive habits she can't seem to stop. Another instance in which Kessa feels as if she is fat, is when Madame states, "Now stay slim-perhaps even a few pounds less here" (pg. 11). Kessa will listen to everything Madame tells her, since she is her role model and is a magnificent dancer. The problem is, losing a pound doesn't mean she's suppose to starve herself and go so deathly skinny that she comes close to death. Yet, Kessa doesn't realize this. As a result, these negative thoughts, make Kessa believe that she must be perfect, and until she feels perfect, she won't stop this awful disease.

This book will be greatly appreciated by teenage girls and perhaps even their parents. Throughout this book, it discusses the difficulties this disease brings, not only to the person it's happening to, but also their family as well. With the author discussing the opinions of all the characters, you get a deeper outlook on this disease and how it comes about. You also get to see how to get to the long road of recovery, which takes the effort of the patient's family, as well as the patient. Not only does it discuss the facts of the disease, but also the action people need to take in order to solve the problem. Waiting too long can be one of the worst things someone can do in this situation. Every minute that is wasted not helping the person with the problem and/or denying they have a problem, is one minute their body is slowing shutting down and deteriorating. Therefore, this book gives a wonderful outlook and description of Anorexia Nervosa, and the troubles it brings to peoples' lives.

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book. It will help people understand just how horrid this disease is and even has the chance of changing someone's outlook on life. Before this book, I hardly knew anything about this disease, but now I understand it a great deal better and know if I ever come across someone who begins starving themselves, I will know how to help them and get them past this harsh disease.

Rating:
Summary: A book for Levenkron's ego alone
Review: I'm sorry, but I have read a ton of material concerning eating disorders and have had enough close personal experience with them to see that this book is terrible. It is no more than a chronicle of how brilliant Levenkron thinks he is in understanding the mind of an anorexic. I'm glad for his prose that so blantantly displays that he's impressed with his ability to cure the disorder rather than concerned with the actual ramifications of the disorder itself - bravo. A must-not-read, indeed.

Rating:
Summary: The best book in a long time
Review: Francesca is ignored and is taking it out on herself instead of letting her parents and family know that. Francesca thinks that becoming ill will make her get more attention. She also thinks that skinny people deserve smaller names so she begins to goby kessa. She goes from an A+ student to almost failing. It also gives girls who are not anorexic a view from one, and if they ever had plans to become one they would think again.

Rating:
Summary: Who is Kessa??
Review: I had wanted to read this book for a long time after hearing what a great portrayal of anorexia it is. However, I was dissappointed. I'll save you the plot of the book (if you're interested, it's on a lot of other reviews). This book was not bad, but I have read many better ones, and it did not live up to my expectations.

The way this book was written is exactly like Kessa's problem. She is alone, and her parents focus all of their attention on her siblings. Similarly, this book focuses its attention not on Kessa, but on her mother, her father, her dance teacher, her
psychiatrist, just about everyone but Kessa. She has a supporting role in the book, so that she serves more as just another client for Sherman to talk about and dissect.

I did not like Kessa, mainly because the reader is not really given a chance to get to know her. The book jumps right in with
Francesca deciding to lose weight and changing her name to "Kessa." Other than her teacher's comment that she might want to lose a little weight, we see little motivation. This is fine, because I understand that there are many lingering, old issues that can bring on anorexia (and we see many of them as the book progresses), however, as a reader, I would have liked to see or learn a little more about the actual development of the disease. I also find it a little unrealistic that she just one day decided to be anorexic and stopped eating. In every case of anorexia I've ever heard of or experienced, there is usually some kind of struggle, some kind of "slip-up." I would have appreciated the book more if Kessa were more realistic, instead of the "perfect anorectic."

My main problem with this book is its impersonality. We hardly get to know Kessa. It seems that Levenkron uses her only as a means-to-an-end, just to get across a point. Maybe this was his intention; however, I would have gotten more out of the book if Kessa was more developed. I would also have liked to see her fighting a little more of the battle, instead of just being helpless and depending on Sherman.

However, this book was fairly enjoyable and interesting to read. It was not the best book on the subject (my personal favorites are "Second Star to the Right" and "Wasted"), but I wouldn't call it a waste of time either.

Rating:
Summary: Serves a Purpose
Review: Writer Steven Levenkron, a psychiatrist, who is accustomed to producing non-fiction, delivers a book that is clean and concise, but with nothing really noticeable stylistically. He has to depend on his characters and his plotline to carry the novel along. He can't afford to stop and linger on a subject, because his prose style won't allow him to do so; the reader would skim down the page to the next "interesting" part.

His characters, unfortunately, are almost as flat as his prose. The title character is fleshed out, but she is a "type." That may not be a fair criticism though, because Levenkron wrote this book to get the word out about Anorexia Nervosa, not to win a Pulitzer. And of course, Levenkron, in this book, contributed to creating the type, so I'll give credit where it's due.

Since the author's intent is to describe a girl progressing through Anorexia Nervosa, and in excruciating detail, the book is a resounding success, and frankly, I couldn't put it down. Levenkron chooses multiple points of view, so we hear the Anorexic girl, Kessa's, inner thoughts; we also have counterpoint from another girl who watches Kessa's disease progress. If this had been an actual biography, I would have felt intrusive, so Levenkron serves in creating what is no doubt a composite character; we learn the inner workings of this disease without having to intrude on anyone.

Now that Anorexia has been the Lifetime channel Disease of the Week, the perennial guest on Oprah, and the subject of more magazine articles than there are grains in a handful of sand, the book seems delicate. Still, it has its place; we can learn about Anorexia without having our eyes transfixed on the skeletal sufferer, so distracting that we barely hear her words.
An interesting note: this book is a favorite among young Anorexic girls. I don't know what that means, other than that it attests to the accuracy of Levenkron's portrait of Kessa. I don't think the book causes Anorexia, because the girls who flock to it seem already to be Anorectics. But I suppose they are the best to judge, and if they are able to identify with the book, then Levenkron must have done something right.

If you are dealing with an Anorectic in your life, this book will give you a good idea of what goes on in her head.

Rating:
Summary: Only the truth, mame
Review: The horrible, frightening truth about the reality of anorexia. I have been recovered now for years, but the tears didn't stop coming as I read Levenkron's book. A must read for former (but always recovering!) anorexics.
Don't be discouraged by Levenkron's unimaginative style and sometimes cliche plot. You'll relate. You'll have goosebumps.