Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Release Date: March 19th, 2009
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Age Group: Young Adult
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Source: Bought

Summary from Goodreads:

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other people's lives. Her father is away on business. Her step-mother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way—thin, thinner, thinnest—maybe she'll disappear altogether.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the National Book Award finalist Speak, best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson explores one girl's chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex of anorexia.

My Opinion: 

I'd never read anything by LHA, and I think this was a good book to start. Wintergirls shows us the inner workings of an anorexic girl's mind very clearly. We get to see why they live like they do, what drives them -in this case, what drove Lia, the MC- to develop an eating disorder.

I was astounded by Lia and Cassie's stories, how they made a pact to be the thinnest girls in school at the mere age of twelve. Twelve! When I was twelve, I was worried about which secondary school I'd get into the following year, not about how thin I was.

The present tense narrative wasn't my cup of tea in this book. I kept feeling like there was something off about it. But I did love how Lia told her story, how she felt like no one understood her.

After Cassie dies, Lia is haunted by the memory of her. She sees Cassie every night, and Cassie always tries to take her with her, to the other side.
There was always something new to keep you wanting to read more, the pace wasn't too fast, and the writing was amazing.

One thing I loved was the relationship Lia had with her little sister, Emma. Emma's nine years old and adores Lia. She's basically the only reason Lia makes some of her best choices.

It's a short book, which you can read in a sitting or two, and very insightful. I'd recommend it to anyone who knows someone with an eating disorder. It might help you understand them better.