The Best Little Girl in the World

by Steven Levenkron

Book Overview

Kessie thinks she's overweight. She's five foot four and ninety-eight pounds. Kessie has anorexia nervosa. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446358657
• Release Date: March 1989
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 0.6" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

The Best Little Girl in the World

10/10, i recommend although this might be triggering somewhat. i think due to the ending: the book is totally worth it. great author, great book, great shipping/handling. the story is of a girl in dance who becomes anorexic.

Great

This book along with Fat Chance are the most likely to give you an eating disorder.

Delightful Awakening

I think this book was amazing! From reading some of the low reviews, all I would have to say is that each person takes it differently. Although others have said that it glamorizes eating disorders and makes them attainable to young girls I have to say the opposite. I was in the middle of a disorder at the time I read this book and I had never spoken about it to anyone. When I was going through this time I felt as though I was the only one and no one could possibly understand my thoughts and views on it. After reading this novel it was shocking to me that all her thoughts were the same that I had been thinking. The things she would do, the way she would think and analyize things to meet her big picture, was all the same as what I was going through. This book showed me that I did need to stop and ask for help because I didn't want to go down that same road. As much as I thought I didn't have a problem Kessa helped me to see that indeed I did! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who thinks they might have an eating disorder. It helped me to see that I was not the only one and my situation was no different at all. And therefore inspired me to take control. Luckily it wasn't too late for me to turn it all around. Thank god for the best little girl in the world!

Stirring and triggering

I love this book, and was deeply affected by it after reading it at age 14. However, the book is a quite romanticized account of anorexia. What insecure teenage girl would not want to be the fragile, thin, beautiful, troubled Kessa? I would say that for most teens, this book would simply be an engrossing "issue of the month" book. However, for those on the edge of anorexia, this book can make the condition seem seductive and appealing. Basically, I would recommend this book for someone who is interested in learning the "why" behind eating disorders, but I would never suggest giving it to an anorexic or bulimic child. An unstable girl will use the book as a bible, and it will likely increase her desire to lose weight.

Was she really the BEST little girl in the world?

Out of all the books concerning eating disorders that I've read, this is perhaps my favorite. When I read this book I myself had an eating disorder, and I found the book to be very triggering - I wanted to salvage "tips" and ideas to aid my own disorder. I also watched the movie which was also extremely triggering. A note to all that have an eating disorder: enjoy the book, but remember that it is a BOOK - not a set of rules to live by!

An unforgettable book

Not to sound melodramatic, but this book saved my life. I have been battling depresion for years,and was recently tettering on the edge of anorexia. Kessa Dietrich is misunderstood by many.Often people simply cannot understand the fact that she is starving herself. Kessa's family however,is being riped apart at the seams.Her food is the only control she has in her world of confusion. This book should be read by every girl, for who has not,at least once, looked at her self in the mirror,and thought"I'm so fat!". This book opens a window into the mind of the anorexic. More over it opens a window into the mind of a person.

Frighteningly accurate

I read this book at the beginning of my own eating disorder, and I wish I could say it was all a lie. It was painful to read because I, like Kessa, am 5'4" tall, but at the time I weighed nearly 30 more pounds than when she began. It's been a while since I read it and its sequel (Kessa), but the impact is permenent. One person said that it was written for people who have trouble reading. I've been reading novels since first grade, and while the literary part was simple, the emotional part was like a bullet. This book was my giudebook, almost my Bible, for a long time in my life. I tried to mirror myself off of Kessa. I wish Kessa was real so that I could go find her and say, "I know you. You're me." Maybe we could help each other. It's the most powerful book I've ever read, except possibly its sequel. But don't read it unless you know you can handle it.