Wintergirls

by Laurie Halse Anderson

“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 are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

• ISBN10: 067001110X
• ISBN13: 9780670011100
• Publish Date: 19 March 2009
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780670011100

Reviews

[Bianca]

Look in a mirror and find a ghost. Hear every heartbeat scream that everysinglething is wrong with you. Why? is the wrong question. Ask Why not?

[rakesandrogues]

I wasn't really into the whole stream of consciousness type of narrative that was in this book. It made it really difficult to get into the book for me. Also, the more I read the book, the more weight-conscious it made me feel.

[britmlewis]

It's rare that I read books that make me truly uncomfortable. I'm not thrown off easily and can usually cut through all the awkwardness and keep reading. Wintergirls, however, stopped me in my tracks a few times. This is not because the book is bad or impossible to read. Instead, it is brilliant. It delves into the world of an 18-year-old girl who suffers from anorexia and other inner demons. Lia finds out in the beginning of the novel that her ex-best friend has been found dead in a motel room. The novel unwraps from there, detailing definitive moments in Lia's past that have shaped who she has become. The pain and truth leaks out of this novel, causing the reader to really contemplate the issues that arise. It is a necessary read for teenage girls because these are topics that are all too common in reality but are generally avoided by the literary world. In general, I believe readers gravitate towards books that can escape into and leave behindwhatever issues they're dealing with in their own life. This isn't wrong. I do it, too. But if you're willing to stray from the general reading formula, read this book. It'll make you uncomfortable. It'll make you want to cry. It'll make you wonder why the hell you haven't read anything like this before.