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HUNGER by Jackie Morse Kessler

HUNGER

From the Riders of the Apocalypse series, volume 1

by Jackie Morse Kessler

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-547-34124-8
Publisher: Graphia

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)