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 stepmother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling hero remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going in this way - thin, thinner; thinnest - maybe she'll disappear altogether.
Wintergirls
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About the Author
Laurie Halse Anderson is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Speak, as well as Catalyst, Prom, and Twisted. She is the recipient of the prestigious ALAN Award (2008), which honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of adolescent literature. Ms. Anderson lives in northern New York State with her husband.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Lia is a recovering anorexic who lives with her father, step mother and step sister. But Lia has no interest in recovering. She worked too hard to be this thin and too hard in fooling her family into believing that she's getting better. Her dream is to weigh 95 pounds and she's determined to achieve it.
One night her former best friend Cassie phones her 33 times. Cassie and Lia haven't spoken in over a year - not since Cassie blamed her for her own bulimia. Angry and resentful, Lia refuses to call Cassie back and the next day, discovers that Cassie died alone in a motel room. As Lia tries to come to terms with what happened to Cassie, she finds herself becoming more and more a wintergirl - someone who is only half in this world and half in the world of the dead. Then Cassie starts to appear to her in visions, and she's determined to bring Lia to her side ...
Anderson's novel is a searingly powerful and unflinching look at anorexia. It's not an easy read - not least because Lia also self-harms and the scenes that show her cutting herself are particularly difficult to read. Anderson brings out Lia's need for control, the dual nature of her disease - how she wants to eat and yet is scared and determined not to. There's no judgment here - Anderson is too wise to point to anorexia as having one root cause. However she does show the contributing factors - Lia's low self-esteem, the support offered by pro-anorexia internet communities, the breakdown of her parents' marriage and the criticism she felt she got from her very successful mother. At the heart of it is confusion - Lia struggles to work out who she is and can't acknowledge the truths screaming within her.
The book's formatting is used to good effect - the text and its presentation highlighting the turmoil Lia is going through and Lia's own voice is faultless. There is also a lengthy author's note at the back which discusses how Anderson came to the subject together with helplines for people touched by the issues.
This is without doubt one of the best YA novels I've read in a long time. It's true, moving and candid and it makes you think about a topic much covered in the media in an entirely new way. A must read for adults and teens alike.
One night her former best friend Cassie phones her 33 times. Cassie and Lia haven't spoken in over a year - not since Cassie blamed her for her own bulimia. Angry and resentful, Lia refuses to call Cassie back and the next day, discovers that Cassie died alone in a motel room. As Lia tries to come to terms with what happened to Cassie, she finds herself becoming more and more a wintergirl - someone who is only half in this world and half in the world of the dead. Then Cassie starts to appear to her in visions, and she's determined to bring Lia to her side ...
Anderson's novel is a searingly powerful and unflinching look at anorexia. It's not an easy read - not least because Lia also self-harms and the scenes that show her cutting herself are particularly difficult to read. Anderson brings out Lia's need for control, the dual nature of her disease - how she wants to eat and yet is scared and determined not to. There's no judgment here - Anderson is too wise to point to anorexia as having one root cause. However she does show the contributing factors - Lia's low self-esteem, the support offered by pro-anorexia internet communities, the breakdown of her parents' marriage and the criticism she felt she got from her very successful mother. At the heart of it is confusion - Lia struggles to work out who she is and can't acknowledge the truths screaming within her.
The book's formatting is used to good effect - the text and its presentation highlighting the turmoil Lia is going through and Lia's own voice is faultless. There is also a lengthy author's note at the back which discusses how Anderson came to the subject together with helplines for people touched by the issues.
This is without doubt one of the best YA novels I've read in a long time. It's true, moving and candid and it makes you think about a topic much covered in the media in an entirely new way. A must read for adults and teens alike.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By TeensReadToo
TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
Chilling. Even many days after reading WINTERGIRLS, I still shiver when I think about this book.
Lia has struggled with an eating disorder before. Her parents think that she is getting better, but she is just fooling everyone. When Cassie, who used to be her best friend, dies, Lia spirals out of control again.
She eats less and less and begins seeing Cassie's ghost everywhere.
WINTERGIRLS explores the world of eating disorders with vivid, horrifying detail.
Even though this book was really creepy, it was also spectacular. I had never understood how or why some people began to have eating disorders, and this book gave a spectacular insight into their state of mind.
Reviewed by: Emily Ann
Lia has struggled with an eating disorder before. Her parents think that she is getting better, but she is just fooling everyone. When Cassie, who used to be her best friend, dies, Lia spirals out of control again.
She eats less and less and begins seeing Cassie's ghost everywhere.
WINTERGIRLS explores the world of eating disorders with vivid, horrifying detail.
Even though this book was really creepy, it was also spectacular. I had never understood how or why some people began to have eating disorders, and this book gave a spectacular insight into their state of mind.
Reviewed by: Emily Ann
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This is a very powerful, emotional book about two teenage girls with weight issues.
The main character, Lia, has serious anorexia. At 18, she has already been hospitalised twice but still resisits all efforts to encourage her to eat. She equates 'empty' with 'strong'. Lia's childhood friend, Cassie, suffers with bulimia, she binges and then brings up, vast quantities of food. As the book opens, Cassie has been found dead in a motel room, alone, having called Lia's mobile 33 times. In recent months they had drifted apart and Lia did not want to speak to Cassie, now she must deal with the guilt that she was not there for her friend when she was needed.
As Lia struggles to come to terms with Cassie's death, she becomes thinner by the day. She uses a host of tricks to convince her ever vigilant mother, father and step-mother that she is eating - leaving crumbs on her plate, pleading a recent meal, cutting food into tiny pieces and picking at it until they have lost interest. She spends sleepless nights on the stepper and does hundreds of crunches in an attempt to burn off more calories that she consumes, she knows the calorific value of every food. Thin is good - she wants to be the thinnest girl in the school.
By the time she is reaching her goal she has started to fall asleep in class, faint and halucinate.
On top of this she is self harming, an activity that becomes progessively more destructive throughout the book.
The author probes Lia's background in an attempt to provide explanations for her behaviour, her parents' divorce, her father's remarriage, her mother's devotion to her job. But she also has a support network and resons to live - particularly her young step-sister, Emma.
There are some clever devices used by the author; particularly Lia's 'bad' thoughts - crossed out and surplanted by 'good' thoughts. (Which, sadly, I can't reproduce here).
However, it was an issue with the way the book was written that made this a four star read for me - sometimes it was a bit too wacky, a bit too teenage perhaps. Given that this is the target audience, then fine, but as an adult reader it alienated me slightly. Putting that aside though, I'm sure this will be a useful addition to the eating disorder novels that more and more teenagers will relate to and I hope it will help some to see it for what it really is - a slow death.
The main character, Lia, has serious anorexia. At 18, she has already been hospitalised twice but still resisits all efforts to encourage her to eat. She equates 'empty' with 'strong'. Lia's childhood friend, Cassie, suffers with bulimia, she binges and then brings up, vast quantities of food. As the book opens, Cassie has been found dead in a motel room, alone, having called Lia's mobile 33 times. In recent months they had drifted apart and Lia did not want to speak to Cassie, now she must deal with the guilt that she was not there for her friend when she was needed.
As Lia struggles to come to terms with Cassie's death, she becomes thinner by the day. She uses a host of tricks to convince her ever vigilant mother, father and step-mother that she is eating - leaving crumbs on her plate, pleading a recent meal, cutting food into tiny pieces and picking at it until they have lost interest. She spends sleepless nights on the stepper and does hundreds of crunches in an attempt to burn off more calories that she consumes, she knows the calorific value of every food. Thin is good - she wants to be the thinnest girl in the school.
By the time she is reaching her goal she has started to fall asleep in class, faint and halucinate.
On top of this she is self harming, an activity that becomes progessively more destructive throughout the book.
The author probes Lia's background in an attempt to provide explanations for her behaviour, her parents' divorce, her father's remarriage, her mother's devotion to her job. But she also has a support network and resons to live - particularly her young step-sister, Emma.
There are some clever devices used by the author; particularly Lia's 'bad' thoughts - crossed out and surplanted by 'good' thoughts. (Which, sadly, I can't reproduce here).
However, it was an issue with the way the book was written that made this a four star read for me - sometimes it was a bit too wacky, a bit too teenage perhaps. Given that this is the target audience, then fine, but as an adult reader it alienated me slightly. Putting that aside though, I'm sure this will be a useful addition to the eating disorder novels that more and more teenagers will relate to and I hope it will help some to see it for what it really is - a slow death.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stayed up reading this for hours!
I just couldn't put this book down! It will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, and it gives an insightful view into the mind of a person with and eating... Read more
Published 26 days ago by Jenni Alcock
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!
I loved the insight this book gave. It is the closest I've ever seen to an actual version of someone with an eating disorder without making a mockery and it was actually a truthful... Read more
Published 2 months ago by SnookiLookalike
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing
Heartbreaking incredible story, I just want to read it again and again and again. Recommended for anyone, but especially for teenagers and people going through mental illnesses... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Hannah Foreman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fab!
Couldn't stop reading it. Loved it made me cry though! Def a well worth book to read! Highly recommend it.
Published 3 months ago by lionsgoraw
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing
This book is the best I have found about anorexia. Anderson is able to get into the mind of an anorexic, and I have no idea how she does it!
Published 3 months ago by Holly
4.0 out of 5 stars
good book
This is a book about an anorexic girl who finds out that her friend is dead. Its quite a sad story to see how anorexia affects this girl and her family. Its very realistic. Read more
Published 3 months ago by KirstyJ
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wintergirls
Absolutely amazing. I adored this book, the characters and plot are very interesting and gives a great insight into teenagers struggle with eating disorders. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kim
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wintergirls, a riveting read! (read in 3 hours)
I thought that this was an excellent book, I felt truly involved and felt connected with the protagonist. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Amy
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wintergirls
A touching tale that focuses on the emotional and psychological strains of an eating disorder. The ending is somewhat predictable yet satisfying. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Anon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Asdfghjkl
I loved the book, it was amazing and it arrived so much sooner than I expected. So all in all perfect :)
Published 4 months ago by Nella
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