Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
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.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 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.
2 of 2 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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved this book so much! I don't know how to explain it, but Wintergirls is somehow different from most E.D. books out there. It's true, blunt, realistic with a thick plot.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wintergirls
A very insightful story written through the eyes of an 18 year old suffering from the isolating disease of Anorexia Nervosa following her through the psychological breakdown. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Gemma
Amazing.
Once I started reading Wintergirls I literally couldn't stop, I finished it within two days and got to a part when I was crying so much I couldn't actually read the pages. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sack_Girl
definitely one of the better ED books.
having read an awful lot of books on eating disorders, this is certainly one of the better ones by a significant margin. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Chloe
I am thawing
I am fast becoming a huge fan of Laurie Halse Anderson. I started off reading Speak and had several books of hers
on my wish list before deciding to read wintergirls next. Read more
on my wish list before deciding to read wintergirls next. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ms. J. Clarke
Dissappointed.
After reading the rave reviews posted on this site i couldn't wait to read this book but when i began it was like walking through muddy water. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Milly
Insightful
I suffer from an eating disorder and I would say this is a pretty good account of what it's like. It's written really well and has a good plot, I would recommend it to anyone!
Published 7 months ago by rosycakes
Holds Hope
This book was amazing. I really thought that the author put a lot of effort in to make the character seem realistic and troubled, without being whiny or irritating. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Stepping Out of the Page
Amazing.
This book is hard-hitting. There is no denying. The main character suffers from severe anorexia, and her best friend from bulemia. It is one of the best books I have ever read.
Published 11 months ago by Sheeps
"I wasn't sick. I was strong..." A MUST READ
From a personal perspective, this is a book I've wanted to read for a very long time. As someone whose close friend has been battling anorexia for more than ten years, I was keen... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Nicola F (Nic)
Simply a must-read
Lia's long-time best friend, Cassie, has just passed away in a hotel bathroom. Though they haven't spoken in months, Lia feels Cassie's loss very strongly, especially because... Read more
Published 14 months ago by M. K. Burton
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
