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The Luckiest Girl in the World
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The Luckiest Girl in the World (1997) (edit title/settings)

A Young Skater Battles Her Self-Destructive Impulses

by Steven Levenkron (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Just looking at Katie Roskova, you'd think she had it all: she was pretty, popular, an A-student at an exclusive private school, and on her way to becoming a champion figure skater. But there was another Katie--the one she hid from the world--who was having trouble dealing with the mounting... read more

Summary edit see section history

Katie is a promising figure skater whose divorced mother drives her relentlessly to perfect her skills, at almost any expense. What her mother and coach don't know, but her English teacher begins to figure out, is that when Katie gets to an emotional edge, she hides and cuts herself; the pain... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Katie is a promising figure skater whose divorced mother drives her relentlessly to perfect her skills, at almost any expense. What her mother and coach don't know, but her English teacher begins to figure out, is that when Katie gets to an emotional edge, she hides and cuts herself; the pain and blood help focus her mind. Not until she goes over that edge one day at school and begins slamming her locker door on her hand and then banging her head on the wall does she begin to get the professional help she needs.

After a couple of false starts, she finds a psychiatrist experienced in working with teens in trouble who enables her to tell truths she hasn't for years been able to admit to herself or speak of to anyone else. Her mother resists other adults' help and almost succeeds in getting her out of therapy, especially group therapy with girls her mother labels "delinquents." But Katie finally manages to make some choices against her mother's wishes--an immense step out of the depths of years of co-dependence.

As the story ends, she has come to realize the girls in the group are capable of being real friends--something she hasn't had for a long while--and she is capable of making choices toward her own healing, the first of which is to seek and accept real help and to distinguish it from pleasing adults who are using her to assuage their own pain.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “For a moment, she was almost relieved, she'd been waiting for it or so long. But then she realized with terror that this time something was different. Because it was going too fast-like a reel of film playing at high speed. And there was no was to stop it. Her mind was already starting to fragment. She could fell it happening; as her mind left she was losing control faster and faster. Finally there was no way to think. Her mind was gone. All she could do was watch, as if from a long distance away, as her hand continued to slam the locker door over and over. But then she saw her other hand move between the door and the door frame. Now the door was slamming the other hand.”

First Sentence edit see section history

The music from her mom's old tape recorder filled the rink as Katie Roskova skated to the center of the ice.

Table of Contents edit see section history

There are 42 chapters. All are unnamed, just called "Chapter __".

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Steven Levenkron (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Scribners
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1997
ISBN: 9780140266252
Page Count: 192

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3562.E872L8
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Perfect for teens, especially girls. Helps to understand the feelings of a "cutter" and the background of how it can come about/why the person does it.

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