Kessa - Softcover

Levenkron, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0445201754 ISBN 13: 9780445201750

Publisher: Popular Library, 1986

Synopsis

The story of a young anorexic, Kessa, as she is released from the hospital and must confront her innermost fears without reverting to her old patterns of self-denial and rigid control

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up A compelling sequel to The Best Little Girl in the World (Warner, 1979) that can be read independently. Here again readers are drawn into the world of a teenage girl suffering from anorexia nervosa. Kessa's character is strongly believable as Levenkron describes her encounters with family, friends and therapist that provide insight into the conflicts and fears that anorexics face. Kessa's struggles to understand the emotions and happenings that led to her anorexia are made real for readers, who will feel compassion toward Kessa as they gain understanding of the disease. This is a more intense look at the grueling therapeutic recovery period after leaving the support of the hospital than is found in The Bigger Book of Lydia (Harper, 1983) by Margaret Willey or The Hunger Scream (Walker, 1983) by Ivy Ruckman. A list of agencies that help people with food disorders is included. Linda Polomski, Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, Middletown, Conn.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

Kessa continues the story begun in The Best Little Girl in the World, about a teenager suffering from anorexia nervosa. The title character carries on her struggle against the psychological disease after her release from the hospital. The story is difficult to followthe omnipresent narrator makes facile leaps from character to character. The transitions are not smooth: one scene featuring Kessa in the present is followed by one in which her father remembers his thoughts from a scene in the previous book. And for all of Levenkron's seeming knowledge on the subject, no insight as to how or why this disease strikes is found here. Perhaps the novel should have been written by someone with a better sense for fiction. A subject as serious as this deserves better. January
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Popular Library
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0445201754
• ISBN 13: 9780445201750
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 247