Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls

By Laurie Halse Anderson

Published by Speak

Summary:

When Lia and Cassie were younger, they decided to have a competition to see who could be thinner. Years later after slowly growing apart, Lia hears that Cassie was found alone and dead in a motel room. And she called Lia 33 times before she died. The book is a distorted stream-of-consciousness as Lia deals with her anorexia and self-esteem issues coupled with the guilt of what happened to Cassie. The reader watches as Lia's self-destructive calorie counting, hours on the exercise equiptment, and disparaging remarks spiral to a fate almost similar to Cassie's.

My Review:

While I loved this book, it was very disturbing. The part that redeems it is that this is a fiction book but with very true facts. This does happen to people in our society. This is not a made up fairy story or sci-fi thriller that came out of someone's mind, this is a compilation of teenage girls' stories and the author's struggles. This is a struggle that is real and life-threatening and important to be educated about. I would be careful of the young adult I handed this to because I wouldn't want to encourage any of this type of thinking but I know it is important that young adults see this disease for the ugly, deadly thing that it is.

WARNING: language, eating disorders, self-abuse, death, self-esteem issues, family dynamics