Wintergirls

Title: Wintergirls

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

ISBN: 978-0142415573

Publisher: Viking

Copyright: 2009

 Plot Summary: This story follows Lia and Cassie childhood best friends. They both suffer from Bulimia and are in a quest from 8th grade on to be the thinnest girls in class. Lia goes into treatment for her eating disorder when she is in 11th grade and this causes a rift between her and Cassie. Cassie is found dead at a motel due to a ruptured esophagus and Lia is haunted by her ghost. Lia struggles with recovery, the death of her best friend, and whether or not she wants to continue to live. 

Critical Evaluation:  This novel covers very heavy topics like death, eating disorders and self harm but in a way that it is approachable by the readers.  The hallucinations that Lia has of Cassie where Cassie tells her that she is a "ghost with a beating heart" creates this dark, twisted image in the reader's heads and helps the reader relate to Lia's mental state. 

This is a well written book about a hard to understand problem.

 Reader's Annotation: Lia has an eating disorder, the same one that took her best friends life, will she be able to escape the ghosts of her past and begin to live again?

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

 Author Information: Anderson has written w ritten other young adult novels including Speak. To find out more about Laurie Halse Anderson visit her website at http://madwomanintheforest.com/.

Book talks: Self Harm, Eating Disorders, Friendship, family, divorce

Reading Level/Interest Age: High School/College. 15-20

Challenge: Eating Disorders, self-harm. These two things are necessary parts of the book, while not appealing it is important to know where the characters are coming from and what they are suffering from. 

Why was this book chosen?: