November 22, 2010
In adult author Kessler's YA debut, first in a planned series, 17-year-old Lisa, who makes a half-hearted suicide attempt and is in denial about her anorexia, learns that she has been appointed to the role of "Famine," one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. When Death, unsubtly depicted as Kurt Cobain, gives her the choice between succumbing to him or joining him, Lisa climbs on her black horse and gallops through the night skies, experiencing world hunger in its literal and metaphorical forms. During alternate scenes, she fights with her boyfriend and counts calories with her bulimic friend. Kessler realistically conveys the vicious nature of the girls' eating disorders, providing graphic depictions of their binging, purging, and starvation. However, the paranormal concept often gallops ahead of its supporting framework, muddling rather than addressing the psychological complexity of Lisa's illness. Perceptive readers will recognize that Lisa's most convincing (and painful) moments—her punishing internal monologue as she debates whether to eat a cheese fry and her resentment toward those who try to help her—are solidly anchored in the real world. Ages 12–up.
September 1, 2010
After a half-hearted suicide attempt, anorexic teen Lisabeth Lewis inherits the responsibilities of Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in this book of revelations and Revelations. Lisa is a typical self-harming protagonist, complete with a cruel internal voice, a mental calorie calculator, a perfect, absent mother and an oblivious, alcoholic and hen-pecked father. In serving as Famine—and exploring alternate and unexpected uses of her new power—Lisa witnesses true hunger and gains some much-needed perspective on her problems. Told through Lisa's scalpel-sharp voice, her transparent thoughts and roiling emotions lend the familiar matter a feverish, impressionistic quality. Like her friends, the other Horsemen never emerge as fully fleshed characters: Pestilence makes a cameo, War rattles her saber and Death (in the guise of a dead grunge star) makes enigmatic statements (though Famine's Horse has an appealing and distinct personality). Adult author Kessler's concept and characters may not be wholly original, as she indicates in her author's note, but her ear for dialogue, fluid prose and dark humor elevate this brief novel above other "issue books." (eating-disorder resources) (Fiction. 12 & up)
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Starred review from November 1, 2010
Gr 8 Up-Suicidal, anorexic Lisabeth thinks she is hallucinating when Death (who looks a lot like a certain dead grunge rock star) rings her doorbell, hands her a set of scales, and informs her that she is now one of the four riders of the Apocalypse-Famine, specifically. When ignoring the scales and the giant war horse grazing in the front yard doesn't work, Lisabeth takes up the mantle of Famine and rides out to areas marked by the excess of gluttony and decimated by starvation. It's not long before she learns how to spread hunger and discord, and maybe even how to balance the scales in the areas of the worst suffering. She meets fellow riders-War, who encourages her destructive tendencies, and Pestilence, who councils her to find balance because, "Well, if everyone dies, I'd be out a job, wouldn't I?" At the heart of this slim novel is a teen struggling with serious food issues, and the storytelling is both realistic and compassionate. If the metaphor of an anorexic as Famine is obvious, the writing is never preachy, and it allows an interesting exploration of both intensely personal food issues and global ones. This book has an excellent hook and is short enough to recommend to reluctant readers.-Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA
Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 1, 2010
Grades 7-10 Seventeen-year-old Lisabeth is fighting a series of demons the only way she knows how: by refusing to eat. Her cold, acerbic mother; distant father; and friends who disapprove of her and each other all trigger her inner Thin Voice, which derides food, confirms her fatness, and shames her into the control necessary to reject food. As she sinks deeper into anorexia, she summons Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who in turn assigns her a black steed and a scale and transforms her into Famine, another of the Four Horsemen. Kessler has written an unusual allegory about eating disorders, one that works on several levels. As Lisabeth gallops across the world, she witnesses examples of both gluttony and starvation. Using her newfound power, she combats famine, visits horror upon the privileged, and strives to bring balance to the world, all while ignoring the need for balance in her own life. Kessler offers a refreshingly new approach to the YA eating-disorder genre that reinforces the difficulty of conquering these diseases.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)