Fat and Skinny had a race
All around the pillow case
Fat fell down and broke her face
Skinny said, ‘Ha-ha, I won the race.’
The Best Little Girl in the World
The ‘little girl’, Francesca Louise Dietrich, a normal teenager who loves ballet and goes for ballet lessons. At the beginning of the story, Francesca has already begun to hate her ‘fat body’. Then, I think her ballet teacher made matters worse by telling her to be slim and firm herself up. But I guess her teacher meant for her to diet in a healthy way.
Anyway, Francesca created a new name for herself: Kessa. In her mind, Kessa is thin and perfect whereas Francesca is fat and ugly. So that’s how her obsession of becoming thin started. She drifted away from her family and friends and also from food altogether.
I was quite annoyed with her mother, Grace and also her father, Harold. Kessa must have become terribly thin already and always made up excuses not to eat her food but her parents did not entirely force her to eat. They let her do anything she wants initially. When she complained about the food, they merely scolded her but didn’t make her eat.
After some time, her father could not take it anymore and stood over her and made her eat up her food. However, they did not know that she would throw up all the food she ate in the toilet. And yet they wonder why she’s still so thin. Finally, Kessa’s pediatrician advised her parents to let Kessa see a psychiatrist, a Dr Smith.
Things did not really go well with Dr Smith and Kessa stopped seeing him. Then, her parents took her to another psychiatrist, Sandy Sherman. Well, at least Sherman sounds better than Smith, Kessa’s father thought. Yeah, he’s better too because he made Kessa trust him and confide in him.
Kessa’s condition did not improve, as she still won’t eat and finally landed in the hospital. I like her roommate, Lila, who’s very straightforward and full of common sense. She tells Kessa it’s silly to NOT want to eat when they have food right in front of them. Then what about poor people who don’t have food? Poor people don’t simply starve themselves to become thinner. It’s logical, isn’t it?
I think this is the first book about anorexia nervosa that I’ve read. So far, I’ve only watched a movie, Hunger Point, which is also about an anorexic girl. The Best Little Girl in the World has been an insightful book but at some parts where Kessa was examining herself and when she was counting the number of ribs she has, I felt sort of uncomfortable for her. If one could count the number of ribs one has, then that person ought to feel extremely hungry! I know I will.
This book has its good and bad sides. The good part is that it’ll give us an idea of how an anorexic thinks. The bad part is it may help people become anorexics, which is just bad, bad, bad. Therefore, I recommend that you only READ it for information but NOT to copy what Kessa did. It sounds logical, isn’t it?
In short, when you are hungry, EAT! Your body will thank you for it.
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Haha, i may not have been anorexic but i did go a little bulemic at one point. Somehow though, even after much puking, i’m still as heavy as ever! Darn, it doesn’t work for everyone. XD
But to think about it, my thoughts are somewhat like those of an anorexia ‘victim’. I keep telling myself i’m overweight although my parents have complaint that my ribs are showing. I don’t seem to notice it though, i just see layers and layers of fat plus excess skin. And i think i’m eating too much too.
Really good post, books must really love you after how you so nicely reviewed it. Makes me wanna go out and buy/steal/borrow the book. Hehe.. I love these kind of books where the story isn’t so perfect and sweet. Reminds me of “Cut” (if i’m not mistaken), that little black book about suicide.
BYE!
p.s. You don’t be anorexic either.
usws: Ah, bulimia…I watched an episode of Oprah one day and they were featuring a normal-sized woman with bulimia. The camera followed her around for a week and everyone could see how she vomited and hid her bags of vomit from her husband. In the end, she got help and has not vomited for about 6 months. I don’t know how she is now.
I guess many people have such thoughts too – like some skinny girl calling herself fat when she’s really the thinnest girl in class or something. That’s totally absurd. Maybe she’s just being modest(???).
Well, if you eat too much, the only sensible thing to do is to exercise. Being a Malaysian and surrounded by good food all the time, I rarely miss a meal. If I feel I ate too much, then I’d just move around, do more housework(!), etc, or just let the food digest itself.
And were you referring to Cut by Patricia Mccormick? I checked it out on Amazon and it seems interesting. Will check it out one day.
Eat! That’s the thing I am doing all the time
Edward:
Same here – looks like we both love food.
Came here from blogcatalog, like your review, its almost like you were part of the family looking in!
Hi chica, glad you like it!
Sorry to disappoint, but this review is terrible. This is not a review, merely an overview of the plot. You need to read the book but not based on this review. The book is an aching portrait of a child who is looking for acceptance and control. She feels betrayed by her family, her body, and eventually dance. Maybe it strikes a personal cord for me, as a dancer who was told to firm up to be “great”. But I take offense to the jokes about bulimia and anorexia made here. Body dysmorphic disorder is deadly, and there are many many many girls who are dying from it. This book is like reading one of their diaries, and it’s not funny.
@Katie: Hi Katie, thanks for coming here, reading my review and also for commenting. I’m sorry if some of the content on this page has offended you.
Yes, I know and I’m sure most of us also realize that eating disorders can be deadly. I pray that none of my loved ones (or anyone at all) ever develop them.
But this book was really good. If it weren’t for it, I wouldn’t have had the chance to see inside the mind of an anorexic.
Thanks again Katie, for your response. I’m always open to feedback and practising to polish up my review-writing.