Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler: Book Review

 

Sites of Interest: Author's Site | NEDA |

Publisher: Harcourt Graphia | Published: October 18, 2010

Paperback | 180 pages | ISBN 978-0547341248

Source: publisher via NetGalley

Product Description from Goodreads:

"Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world." 

 

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? 

     Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons? 

A fantastical method of tackling anorexia. Did it work for me? well, actually, yes.  Let me explain why.  In Hunger, we catch only a brief peek into the inner-workings of a teen with anorexia - the demons they fight every day, every hour, every minute.  Hunger is a book to get people talking about the issue - it's for tweens and teens and parents.

In this book the parents are represented as clueless, busy with their own lives.  Unfortunately, I've seen this happen in a real-life situation.  Parents get caught up with work, other children, spouses, whatever and lose touch with what is going on in a child's life with devastating consequences.

If you have tweens or teens please put this book in their hands.  You might just save a life.  Oftentimes we can connect through characters in a book and Lisa is a teenager whose relatability factor simply increases the faster the pages turn.  James, her boyfriend, is drawn as the caring, deeply concerned boyfriend that Lisa continuously pushes away.  And Death? Well, Death is the rock star come to give her the choice - become Famine or ......

I'm giving Hunger 4 quills based on  subject matter, length, depth of topic, and character development of Lisa.  And is the cover just not fantastic?!?

For more information on the subject of anorexia please visit The National Eating Disorders Association.  A portion of the proceeds from Hunger will be donated to NEDA.

And I just have to point out Jackie Morse Kessler has another book coming out April 2011. This one is entitled Rage and deals with the self-inflicted injuries teens commit like cutting.  A portion of the proceeds from that book will be donated to To Write Love on Her Arms.  I am quite familiar with this organization - I hope you will check out both Ms. Kessler's books and both of these non-profits dedicated to helping our youth.