Wintergirls

By Laurie Halse Anderson

The New York Times bestselling story of a friendship frozen between life and death.

“A fearless, riveting account of a young woman in the grip of a deadly illness.” —The New York Times

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffers the ultimate loss—her life—and Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend's memory and racked with guilt for not being able to help save her. In her most powerfully moving novel since Speak, award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's struggle, her painful path to recovery, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the most important thing of all: hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
• Release date: Mar 19, 2009
• ISBN: 9781101029190

Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity. She’s twice been a National Book Award finalist, for Chains and Speak; Chains also received the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Laurie was chosen for the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award and received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2023, presented to her by the Crown Princess of Sweden. She lives in Pennsylvania, and you can follow her adventures on X @HalseAnderson or visit her at MadWomanintheForest.com. 

Book preview

001.00

So she tells me, the words dribbling out with the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee.

She tells me in four sentences. No, five.

I can’t let me hear this, but it’s too late. The facts sneak in and stab me. When she gets to the worst part

. . . body found in a motel room, alone . . .

. . . my walls go up and my doors lock. I nod like I’m listening, like we’re communicating, and she never knows the difference.

---

It’s not nice when girls die.

002.00

We didn’t want you hearing it at school or on the news. Jennifer crams the last hunk of muffin into her mouth. Are you sure you’re okay?

I open the dishwasher and lean into the cloud of steam that floats out of it. I wish I could crawl in and curl up between a bowl and a plate. My stepmother Jennifer could lock the door, twist the dial to SCALD, and press ON.

The steam freezes when it touches my face. I’m fine, I lie.

She reaches for the box of oatmeal raisin cookies on the table. This must feel awful. She rips off the cardboard ribbon. Worse than awful. Can you get me a clean container?

I take a clear plastic box and lid out of the cupboard and hand it across the island to her. Where’s Dad?

He had a tenure meeting.

Who told you about Cassie?

She crumbles the edges of the cookies before she puts them in the box, to make it look like she baked instead of bought. Your mother called late last night with the news. She wants you to see Dr. Parker right away instead of waiting for your next appointment.

What do you think? I ask.

It’s a good idea, she says. I’ll see if she can fit you in this afternoon.

Don’t bother. I pull out the top rack of the dishwasher. The glasses vibrate with little screams when I touch them. If I pick them up, they’ll shatter. There’s no point.

She pauses in mid-crumble. Cassie was your best friend.

Not anymore. I’ll see Dr. Parker next week like I’m supposed to.

I guess it’s your decision. Will you promise me you’ll call your mom and talk to her about it?

Promise.

Jennifer looks at the clock on the microwave and shouts, Emma—four minutes!

My stepsister Emma doesn’t answer. She’s in the family room, hypnotized by the television and a bowl of blue cereal.

Jennifer nibbles a cookie. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but I’m glad you didn’t hang out with her anymore.

I push the top rack back in and pull out the bottom. Why?

Cassie was a mess. She could have taken you down with her.

I reach for the steak knife hiding in the nest of spoons. The black handle is warm. As I pull it free, the blade slices the air, dividing the kitchen into slivers. There is Jennifer, packing store-bought cookies in a plastic tub for her daughter’s class. There is Dad’s empty chair, pretending he has no choice about these early meetings. There is the shadow of my mother, who prefers the phone because face-to-face takes too much time and usually ends in screaming.

Here stands a girl clutching a knife. There is grease on the stove, blood in the air, and angry words piled in the corners. We are trained not to see it, not to see any of it.

. . . body found in a motel room, alone . . .

Someone just ripped off my eyelids.

---

Thank God you’re stronger than she was. Jennifer drains her coffee mug and wipes the crumbs from the corners of her mouth.

The knife slides into the butcher block with a whisper. Yeah. I reach for a plate, scrubbed free of blood and gristle. It weighs ten pounds.

She snaps the lid on the box of cookies. I have a late settlement appointment. Can you take Emma to soccer? Practice starts at five.

Which field?

Richland Park, out past the mall. Here. She hands the heavy mug to me, her lipstick a bloody crescent on the rim. I set it on the counter and unload the plates one at a time, arms shaking.

Emma comes into the kitchen and sets her cereal bowl, half-filled with sky-colored milk, next to the sink.

Did you remember the cookies? she asks her mother.

Jennifer shakes the plastic container. We’re late, honey. Get your stuff.

Emma trudges toward her backpack, her sneaker laces flopping. She should still be sleeping, but my father’s wife drives her to school early four mornings a week for violin lessons and conversational French. Third grade is not too young for enrichment, you know.

Jennifer stands up. The fabric of her skirt is pulled so tight over her thighs, the pockets gape open. She tries to smooth out the wrinkles. Don’t let Emma con you into buying chips before practice. If she’s hungry, she can have a fruit cup.

Should I stick around and drive her home?

She shakes her head. The Grants will do it. She takes her coat off the back of the chair, puts her arms in the sleeves, and starts to button up. Why don’t you have one of the muffins? I bought oranges yesterday, or you could have toast or frozen waffles.

Because I can’t let myself want them because I don’t need a muffin (410), I don’t want an orange (75) or toast (87), and waffles (180) make me gag.

I point to the empty bowl on the counter, next to the huddle of pill bottles and the Bluberridazzlepops box. I’m having cereal.

Her eyes dart to the cabinet where she had taped up my meal plan. It came with the discharge papers when I moved in six months ago. I took it down three months later, on my eighteenth birthday.

That’s too small to be a full serving, she says carefully.

I could eat the entire box I probably won’t even fill the bowl. My stomach’s upset.

She opens her mouth again. Hesitates. A sour puff of coffee-stained morning breath blows across the still kitchen and splashes into me. Don’t say it—don’tsayit.

Trust, Lia.

She said it.

That’s the issue. Especially now. We don’t want . . .

If I weren’t so tired, I’d shove trust and issue down the garbage disposal and let it run all day.

I pull a bigger bowl out of the dishwasher and put it on the counter. I. Am. Fine. Okay?

She blinks twice and finishes buttoning her coat. Okay. I understand. Tie your sneakers, Emma, and get in the car.

Emma yawns.

Hang on. I bend down and tie Emma’s laces. Double-knotted. I look up. I can’t keep doing this, you know. You’re way too old.

She grins and kisses my forehead. Yes you can, silly.

As I stand up, Jennifer takes two awkward steps toward me. I wait. She is a pale, round moth, dusted with eggshell foundation, armed for the day with her banker’s briefcase, purse, and remote starter for the leased SUV. She flutters, nervous.

I wait.

This is where we should hug or kiss or pretend to.

She ties the belt around her middle. Look . . . just keep moving today. Okay? Try not to think about things too much.

Right.

Say good-bye to your sister, Emma, Jennifer prompts.

Bye, Lia. Emma waves and gives me a small berri-dazzle smile. The cereal is really good. You can finish the box if you want.

003.00

I pour too much cereal (150) in the bowl, splash on the two-percent milk (125). Breakfast is themostimportantmealoftheday. Breakfast will make me a cham-pee-on.

---

. . . When I was a real girl, with two parents and one house and no blades flashing, breakfast was granola topped with fresh strawberries, always eaten while reading a book propped up on the fruit bowl. At Cassie’s house we’d eat waffles with thin syrup that came from maple trees, not the fake corn syrup stuff, and we’d read the funny pages. . . .

---

No. I can’t go there. I won’t think. I won’t look.

I won’t pollute my insides with Bluberridazzlepops or muffins or scritchscratchy shards of toast, either. Yesterday’s dirt and mistakes have moved through me. I am shiny and pink inside, clean. Empty is good. Empty is strong.

But I have to drive.

---

. . . I drove last year, windows down, music cranked, first Saturday in October, flying to the SATs. I drove so Cassie could put the top coat on her nails. We were secret sisters with a plan for world domination, potential bubbling around us like champagne. Cassie laughed. I laughed. We were perfection.

Did I eat breakfast? Of course not. Did I eat dinner the night before, or lunch, or anything?

The car in front of us braked as the traffic light turned yellow, then red. My flip-flop hovered above the pedal. My edges blurred. Black squiggle tingles curled up my spine and wrapped around my eyes like a silk scarf. The car in front of us disappeared. The steering wheel, the dashboard, vanished. There was no Cassie, no traffic light. How was I supposed to stop this thing?

Cassie screamed in slow motion.

::Marshmallow/air/explosion/bag::

When I woke up, the emt-person and a cop were frowning. The driver whose car I smashed into was screaming into his cell phone.

My blood pressure was that of a cold snake. My heart was tired. My lungs wanted a nap. They stuck me with a needle, inflated me like a state-fair balloon, and shipped me off to a hospital with steel-eyed nurses who wrote down every bad number. In pen. Busted me.

Mom and Dad rushed in, side by side for a change, happy that I was not dead. A nurse handed my chart to my mother. She read through it and explained the disaster to my father and then they fought, a mudslide of an argument that spewed across the antiseptic sheets and out into the hall. I was stressed/overscheduled/manic/no—depressed/no—in need of attention/no—in need of discipline/in need of rest/in need/your fault/your fault/fault/fault. They branded their war on this tiny skin-bag of a girl.

Phone calls were made. My parents force-marched me into hell on the hill New Seasons. . . .

Cassie escaped, as usual. Not a scratch. Insurance more than covered the damage, so she wound up with a fixed car and new speakers. Our mothers had a little talk, but really all girls go through these things and what are you going to do? Cassie rescheduled for the next test and got her nails done at a salon, Enchanted Blue, while they locked me up and dripped sugar water into my empty veins. . . .

---

Lesson learned. Driving requires fuel.

Not Emma’s Bluberridazzlepop cereal. I shiver and pour most of the soggy mess down the disposal, then set the bowl on the floor. Emma’s cats, Kora and Pluto, pad across the kitchen and stick their heads in the bowl. I draw a cartoon face with a big tongue on a sticky note, write YUMMY, EMMA! THANKS! and slap it on the cereal box.

I eat ten raisins (16) and five almonds (35) and a green-bellied pear (121) (= 172). The bites crawl down my throat. I eat my vitamins and the crazy seeds that keep my brain from exploding: one long purple, one fat white, two poppy-red. I wash everybody down with hot water.

They better work quick. The voice of a dead girl is waiting for me on my phone.

004.00

The climb upstairs takes longer than usual.

I sleep at the far end of the hall, in the tiny space still decorated like a guest room. White walls. Yellow curtains. The sofa bed is never folded up, the desk came from a yard sale. Jennifer keeps offering to buy me new furniture, and paint or put up wallpaper. I tell her I haven’t figured out what I want to do yet. I should probably unpack the stacks of dusty boxes first.

My phone is waiting on top of the pile of dirty clothes, right where it landed when I chucked it at the wall early Sunday morning because the constant ringing was making me crazy and I was too tired to turn it off.

---

. . . The last time she called me was six months ago, after I got out of the hospital for the second time. I’d been calling her four or five times a day, but she wouldn’t pick up or call me back, until finally, she did.

She asked me to listen and told me this wouldn’t take long.

I was the root of all evil, Cassie said. A negative influence, a toxic shadow. While I was locked up, her parents had dragged her to a doctor who washed her brain and weighed her down with pills and empty words. She needed to move on with her life, redefine her boundaries, she said. I was the reason she cut classes and failed French, the cause of everything nasty and dangerous.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

I was the reason she didn’t run away freshman year. I was the reason she didn’t eat a bottle of sleeping pills when her boyfriend cheated on her. I listened for hours when her parents yelled and tried to stuff her into a mannequin shell that didn’t fit. I understood what triggered her earthquakes, most of them. I knew how much it hurt to be the daughter of people who can’t see you, not even if you are standing in front of them stomping your feet.

But remembering all that was too complicated for Cassie. It was easier for her to dump me one last time. She turned my summer into a desert wasteland. When school started, she looked right through me in the halls, her new friends draped around her neck like Mardi Gras necklaces. She wiped me off the face of her existence.

---

But something happened. In the dead time between Saturday night and Sunday morning, she called me.

Of course I didn’t pick up. She was drunk-dialing, or prank-dialing. I wasn’t going to let her sucker me into being her friend again just so she could turn around and crush me one more time.

. . . body found in a motel room, alone . . .

I didn’t pick up. I didn’t listen to her messages yesterday. I was too angry to even look at the phone.

She’s still waiting for me.

I sit down on the mound of unwashed pajama bottoms and sweatshirts and dig out the phone. Open it. Cassie called thirty-three times, starting at 11:30 Saturday night.

RETRIEVE VOICE MAIL

Lia? It’s me. Call me.

Cassie.

Second message: Where are you? Call me back. Cassie.

Third: I’m not playing, Overbrook. I really need to talk to you.

Cassie, two days ago, Saturday.

Call me.

Please, please, call me.

Look, I’m sorry I was such a bitch. Please.

I know you’re getting these messages.

You can be mad at me later, okay? I really need to talk to you.

You were right—it wasn’t your fault.

There’s nobody else to talk to.

Oh, God.

From 1:20 to 2:55, she hung up fifteen times.

Next: Please, Lia-Lia. Her voice was slurring.

I’m so sad. I can’t get out.

Call me. It’s a mess.

Two more hang-ups.

3:20, very slurred: I don’t know what to do.

3:27. I miss you. Miss you.

I bury the phone at the bottom of the pile and put on a heavier sweatshirt before I head for my car. Winter comes early in New Hampshire.

005.00

My timing is perfect, and I wind up in a traffic jam. The cars around me are driven by fat cows and bellowing bulls. We roll along, six mph. I can run faster than this. We brake. They chew their cud and moo into their phones until the herd shifts gears and rolls forward again.

Fifteen miles an hour. I can’t run that fast.

Somewhere between Martins Corner and Route 28, I begin to cry. I turn on the radio, sing at the top of my lungs, turn it off again. I beat the steering wheel with my fists until I can see the bruises, and with every mile, I cry harder. Rain pours down my face.

. . . body found in a motel room, alone . . .

What was she doing there? What was she thinking?

Did it hurt?

There’s no point in asking why, even though everybody will. I know why. The harder question is why not? I can’t believe she ran out of answers before I did.

I need to run, to fly, beating my wings so hard I can’t hear anything over the pounding of my heart. Rain, rain, rain, drowning me.

Was it easy?

---

I do not take any shortcuts, I do not forget to turn at the deli on the corner, I do not get lost, not even on purpose. I arrive at school on autopilot; late by their standards, early by mine. The last buses have just pulled up to the front door.

I get out and lock the car.

The unforgiving November wind blows me toward the building. Pointy snowflakes spiral down from the cake-frosting clouds overhead. The first snow. Magic. Everybody stops and looks up. The bus exhaust freezes, trapping all the noise in a gritty cloud. The doors to the school freeze, too.

We tilt back our heads and open wide.

The snow drifts into our zombie mouths crawling with grease and curses and tobacco flakes and cavities and boyfriend/girlfriend juice, the stain of lies. For one moment we are not failed tests and broken condoms and cheating on essays; we are crayons and lunch boxes and swinging so high our sneakers punch holes in the clouds. For one breath everything feels better.

Then it melts.

The bus drivers rev their engines and the ice cloud shatters. Everyone shuffles forward. They don’t know what just happened. They can’t remember.

she called me.

I walk back to my car, get in, turn on the heat, and wipe my face on my shirt. 7:30. Emma is done with French now and is unpacking her violin. She’ll spend too much time rosining her bow, and not enough tuning the strings. The Winter Concert is coming up in a few weeks, and she doesn’t know the songs yet. I should help her with that.

Cassie’s at the morgue, I guess. Last night she slept there in a silver drawer, eyes getting used to the dark.

Jennifer said they’re doing an autopsy. Who will cut off her clothes? Will they give her a bath, strangers touching her skin? Can she watch them? Will she cry?

The late bell rings, and the last people in the parking lot sprint for the door. Just a few minutes more. I can’t go in until the halls are empty and the teachers have numbed them with boredom so they won’t notice when I slip down the halls.

I turn around and clear a place in the backseat, shoving all the tests, sweatshirts, and overdue library books to one side so Emma will have a place to sit when I pick her up. Jennifer insists on sticking her in the back. It’s safer, she says.

There is no safer. There’s not even safe, never has been.

Cassie thought heaven was a fairy tale for stupid people. How can you find a place you don’t believe in? You can’t. So where does she go now? What if she comes back, eyes on angryfire?

---

7:35. Time to go to school and stop thinking.

006.00

No Honors Option for me, not this year. I am Contemp World Lit, Soc Sci 12—The Holocaust, Physics, Trig (again), and Lunch. No gym, thanks to a magic note from Dr. Parker. There are asterisks next to my name and footnotes that explain the situation.

---

. . . When I was a real girl, my mother fed me her glass dreams one spoonful at a time. Harvard. Yale. Princeton. Duke. Undergrad. Med school. Internship, residency, God. She’d brush my hair and braid it with long words, weaving the Latin roots and Greek branches into my head so memorizing anatomy would come easy. Mom Dr. Marrigan was furious when the guidance counselor kicked me out of Honors and dropped me down to College Track. The counselor suggested that I plan on going to my father’s college, because they had

Reviews for Wintergirls

[emmyson · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is one that I went into knowing full well that I'd probably have a hard time with it. And I did. It hit too close to home and brought back some very painful memories. It's not that it wasn't well done, because it was. It was just too much for me.

[dianekeenoy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A tough book to read or listen to, but an important story. It's hard to understand why someone would stop eating and literally try to get down to zero pounds. The author does an excellent job of making this tough issue a little easier to understand.

[srqlover · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a sad book on one hand but also so very real. Anorexia and Bulemia are very real and this book is one of those that basically smacks you right in the face with it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book although it is so far outside my realm of what I normally read.

Lia is a teenager who is fighting a battle within herself. Eating disorders are not all fun and games and what starts out as something seemingly innocent, can suddenly turn into a life and death battle.

[kwskultety · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I would give this 10 stars if I could. Scary, intense, intelligent, and downright truthful story about anorexia and one girl's decent into Hell. Written superbly, it captures her mindset as her demons slowly squeeze the life out of her body and her mind. Wow. Just wow.

[skstiles612 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had a deep connection to this book. My daughter was anorexic and we fought it for years. Even today as a married woman I see her struggle to eat when she gets stressed. The day before my father went in for open heart surgery he sat her down and made her promise him that when she would get real stressed that she would think about him and not stop eating. She promised him. My father stroked out during surgery and lived for three weeks before passing away. To this day when she is extremely stressed I here her say under her breath, "I'm eating grandpa." She was a dancer and in school, a school for the visual and performing arts, she informed her dance teachers of her problems with eating and also let them know of several of her friends that she was concerned about. This teacher and accomplished dancer and actress would have these girls eat lunch with her in the studio three times a week to discuss any issues they might have. She never once pushed them to eat so they responded well to her.

Anorexia is something that affects all ages. My daughter was in kindergarten when her eating problems started. It was partly a result of her father pushing her away after our divorce and as I found out later some abuse going on a a relative of her father's. She encourages and speaks to teens all of the time. Anorexia is not just a problem for girls. One of her best friends in school was a young male dancer who suffered an eating disorder.

The other issue addressed in this book is that of cutting. Laurie did not go into great detail but did let the reader know the hows and whys the main character cut herself. I suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a relative when I was in middle school and I would take pins and scratch writing into my arms until I bled or just poke holes and watch the blood bubble to the surface picturing it bubbling out all of the bad inside of me.

I deal with students every day with these problems. I look for the signs but they are not always easy to see. I would recommend this book to everyone, parents, teachers and teens. It is strong in message and plot. It is not for the faint of heart. Laurie Halse Anderson once again took the road less traveled and wrote about a topic that seems to be taboo in books but needs to be addressed. I applaud her and will place many copies of this book on my shelf.

[dwcofer_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have read many books by Laurie Halse Anderson, and loved them all. Wintergirls was no exception. The book reads quickly and I finished it in two days. In this story, Anderson deals with eating disorders in young women. It is a wonderful story of how Lia overcomes the disorder and avoids the tragedy from which her best friend Cassie suffered.

The story is told in the first person from Lia’s point of view. She and Cassie have been best friends for years, but recently that has changed. Both girls suffer from eating disorders and both try to become skinnier than the other. Cassie soon ends up dead in a motel room, and her memory haunts Lia throughout the rest of the book. I felt Lia’s character was well developed and I was able to relate to her easily. Cassie’s character was less well developed, despite being a co-protagonist. I would like to have known Cassie in more depth, perhaps better understanding her disorder.

Lia’s family is highly dysfunctional. She lives with her father, step-mother, and step-sister. Lia does not get along well with her biological mother, her father, or her step-mother. She does have a beautiful relationship with her step-sister. She is on a collision course with an early death, due to her eating disorder and related psychological issues. Was her disruptive family life the cause of her disorder? Perhaps, but we are not told. The story is touching as we watch Lia finally overcome her disorder and desire to become “normal” once again.

I heartily recommend this book. It is a great read.

[ms_rowse · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a tough one to read. I've struggled my whole life with body image issues, and I'd be real hesitant to suggest this book to young girls, but I'd jump at the chance to recommend this book to family members of girls with eating disorders. It might give them an insight they didn't previously have.

Though I'd be afraid that some girls reading this book would almost see it as a how-to, especially since the resolution is only 4 pages. I get why Anderson did this, but it gives me pause in who I'd share this book with.

I love love love some of the stylistic freedoms Anderson takes with the formatting--the strikethroughs are brilliant and very much accurate as to what teens think versus what they say. It's a good book, but so harrowing...I had to take several breaks...

[dara85 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lia's best friend, Cassie just has died as a result of bulimia. Lia is anorexic and continually sets goals to lose five more pounds. Cassie comes back to haunt Lia and urge her to join her.

[Ly2809 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Barely approved. I was expecting a different kind of story. But throughout all the pages, it is very monotonous; it's just a story that remains the same until the end. (Translated from Spanish)

[curious_squid · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Heard about this book, thought I'd read it myself. It was melodramatic,(duh its a YA book) disturbing, and really, really, sad oh how I cried....

[jesseekag · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book talks about a very hard topic which we do need to address with young girls around the world. Its clear the author had done research while writing the book, but it was a typical story line.

[welfycat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The prose in this book is perfect, sharp and painful perfection. It is a very painful and powerful exploration of mental illness, particularly anorexia, self harm, and depression. The descriptions of each are spot on (as a survivor of all three) and the story is an excellent introduction to what it is like living with mental illness - the secrecy and the loss of reality in particular. The one issue I had with the story was that it was a very textbook and typical case of anorexia. It makes sense for the audience this is directed at, but falls into the trap of letting the many types and styles of anorexia slip by unnoticed. One of the most dangerous rationalizations for those suffering to make is that it isn't anorexia because they still eat some types of food or they still eat sugary foods or chocolate or baked goods. Many people who have struggled with eating disordered behavior subsist nearly entirely on so called "junk food" and their disordered eating is just as serious as the completely restrictive type of anorexia. Finally, a note of warning to those who are in recovery for disordered eating or self injury. Please use care when choosing to read this books and have support and resources available to you during and after. The headspace in this book could easily lead to a relapse.

[khal_khaleesi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(This review can be found on my blog All the Ups and Downs soon).

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson was one of those books that had me hooked after reading the synopsis. Luckily, this book didn't disappoint.

The pacing started off a little slow. Luckily, the chapters were fairly short most of the time. The short chapters are what kept me reading. Eventually, probably about a third of the way in, the pacing picks up, and I couldn't put Wintergirls down.

The plot was interesting, and it was obvious that the author, Laurie Halse Anderson, had done plenty of research when it came to anorexia and bulimia. It was also great to see Cassie, Lia's best friend, as part of the plot in the form of a "ghost." The plot of Wintergirls is something that those who have anorexia or have had it in the past can relate to. There are no plot twists, but this isn't a type of book that requires them due to the subject matter.

The world building was very believable and very well written thanks to the obvious research done by Laurie Halse Anderson. I felt like I was allowed into Lia's world and to see what she was going through. It was so easy to see her struggle as well as the struggle of those around her. I wanted Lia to get better for the sake of her family, but I could see what Lia was dealing with.

The writing style for Wintergirls did bother me at first, but I grew accustomed to it. Eventually, I did start liking the way in which Wintergirls was written. It is definitely very symbolic throughout.

I thought the characters were written well enough. I could sort of relate to Lia and her relationship (or lack of) with food. I would have liked a bit more insight as to what triggered her to develop an eating disorder although it is briefly mentioned in the book. I would have liked to know a little more about Cassie so I could picture her a little better. I loved the relationship between Lia and her stepsister, Emma. It was such a sweet relationship, and I loved how much love there was between the two girls. I felt like Lia's mom was a bit high strung, but I think that's how she was meant to come across. It did seem like all of Lia's family cared about her though.

Trigger warnings include eating disorders, self harm (cutting), underage drinking, death, mental illness, drug mention, and swearing.

Overall, Wintergirls starts off slow, but it does get better. The plot is a subject that many teen girls will or have dealt with. The world building is realistic, and the characters are great. I would definitely recommend Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson especially to those aged 14 - 21.

[bookscantgetenough · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book scared me and showed me the reality of eating disorders. Before this book I thought anorexia was just not wanting to eat but now I know it is also the way the people think they look like, looking in to the mirror and you see yourself as a 300 pound person when in reality and others eyes you're a 90 pound sixteen year old.

[lflareads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lia and Cassie are best of friends, but sometimes friends are not what they seem. Lia’s best friend died after suffering from anorexia, Lia is suffering, too. Throughout the novel, Lia struggles with her body image, anorexia, and feelings about Cassie. “And that’s the problem. When you’re alive, people can hurt you. It is easier to crawl into a bone cage or a snowdrift of confusion.”
Will she acknowledge “Food is life.” before it is too late?

[christinegrabowski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Warning, this is one of those books you can't put down and it will impact your sleep causing you to keep saying, one more chapter, one more chapter. The book was raw with emotion and very haunting The author did her research and it came through in the pages. I originally read this book to preview it for my teen daughter because I know bulimia, anorexia, and cutting are issues affecting so many people, especially teenage girls. However, after reading it I am not comfortable having her read it at this stage of life. Although the author portrays being anorexic as pure misery, the book is very real and could be used as a how-to manual for many anorexic and bulimic behaviors.

[Lectora Nocturna · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I had this book on my list for many years and finally I was able to read it. At first, it seemed to me that it looked very good, that it would be a heartbreaking and tough story. In my opinion, that was not the case; I really disliked the protagonist, she was very selfish and at some points childish. The reason she doesn't eat is stupid, and so is how the problem is resolved. I have never lived a situation like the one in this book, but it gave me the feeling that it was not very credible or realistic. Additionally, there is a male character who, to be honest, I don't really know what his role in the plot was. The only good thing is that it is very easy and quick to read. (Translated from Spanish)

[thetreereader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is going to be a very short and horrible review. This book hit a little too close to home for me, so writing this review has been difficult.

Wintergirls is an amazing book and was my first five star read of the year. Even though it was a very hard read for me, I just couldn’t put it down. I have been wanting to read it for so long but I kept putting it off because of what it’s about. When I finally picked it up I thought it would be fine. I have been okay for years, all of that stuff is in the past. Unfortunately, this book brought a lot of thoughts back that I didn’t really want to be thinking and I did struggle a bit after reading it. If I’m being honest, I am still struggling a little bit now. However, I don’t regret reading Wintergirls. It is such an amazing and powerful book that I think a lot of people would love. Obviously I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone. If you know what this book is about and you think it might trigger something, than don’t read it. Everyone else should read it. I want to read it again. Not sure if I should, but I might someday.

I’m sorry this review wasn’t very good. I’m not even sure if you can call this a review. All you need to know is that it is an incredible book, the writing is beautiful and I loved it. If you think you will be okay reading it, than please read it. If you’ve already read, re-read it. It is so good.

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4.25 stars

Lia is 18 and struggling with anorexia. Her best friend, Cassie, was bulemic and has just died. Lia is trying to deal with Cassie's death (difficult with Cassie's ghost haunting her) and the guilt she feels because she didn't pick up the phone any of the 33 times Cassie called the night she died. Lia lives with her father and his new wife, Jennifer, and her daughter, Emma. Lia's mother is trying to mend their relationship while also making sure Lia is eating.

This was really good. I think probably very realistic. I got soo frustrated with Lia, plenty of times.

I listened to the audio and like the way they did it, with the occasional sound effect (just a little beep here and there), although at the start of the book, I was a little confused by all the numbers - the way the chapters are read (like Lia keeping track of her weight), and numbers representing calories. But, I did figure it out and thought it was well done (though the chapters, I would have understood sooner if I was reading the print). At the end of the book, the author read the acknowledgments herself, and that was followed by a short interview with her and a poem she wrote about her earlier book, Speak. Very interesting. I'll give an extra 1/4 star for the audio.

[sues7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Extraordinary story that illuminates the life of an anorexic.

[jennysbookbag.com · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first Laurie Halse Anderson novel I read was Speak and I instantly became a fan of her writing. Her writing style is engaging, yet unassuming. Both books that I read were about issues that interest me. Wintergirls is by far, the best novel that I've ever read that features a protagonist with an eating disorder.

Most eating disorder fiction novels read more like a procedural manual. They focus so much on the day-to-day behaviors of people with anorexia or bulimia that you get the impression that they're giving you tips rather than getting into the minds of these sufferers.

Laurie Halse Anderson got it right. She focused on the character's mental anguish and behaviors like calorie counting took the back seat. I wanted to know how anorexics feel, not how they hide their disorder. You'll know exactly how Lia feels while she struggles with her anorexia.

At one point Lia finally opens up to her therapist and her therapist's insight had some wonderful depth to it, especially in this conversation when Lia tells her therapist that she sees and speaks to Cassie's spirit:

"You think I made it up," I say. "You don't believe that I see ghosts."

"I believe that you've created a metaphorical universe in which you can express your darkest fears. In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves, and sometimes we do such a good job, we lose track of reality."

I highly recommend this novel to anyone who's curious about Laurie Halse Anderson's novels or anyone who's looking for a great eating disorder fiction novel.

[thebookmagpie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thoughts later - this was difficult to digest, if you pardon the pun.

[amyghilton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book takes a rare look inside the mind of a girl with an eating disorder. She has been starving herself for so long, that she begins to hallucinate, and dementia takes over. Her thoughts are so obscure, you don't know if she's hallucinating, or in reality. Her best friend has already died a horrible death from being a bulimic for 8 years, but that doesn't stop her. She has such a horrible self image of herself, that she calls herself a "fat pig" even though she weighs only 90 pounds. Her ultimate goal is to get down to 75 pounds, and then maybe she'll be happy, but she knows that it will never be enough. It's so sad that this is reality for a lot of girls in our society today, and I just can't understand why they feel the need to starve until their bodies are mere skeletons.

[catherinehsu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was amazingly chilling: the writing style, typography, characters. It was terrifying realistic - another beautiful book from Laurie Halse Anderson about the struggles and pain people go through on the road to recovery.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Oh brother. I am so not the target audience for this. Why do privileged girls and young women feel so desperate? This book doesn't answer it. If she wants to be skinny, she can serve in Darfur. If she wants to be strong and in control, she should eat exactly as much as she needs for her health and stop cutting. If she wants to have more good times with her parents she should stop stressing them out and make more time for good things to happen. It's not like she didn't have plenty of support.

[jrlibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm probably one of the last people to read this book. It was talked about years and years ago and I purchased it right away but I was afraid to read it because I love the author and I didn't think I'd like the content. Much to my surprise I really enjoyed reading about Lia and her struggles.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a really confronting book dealing with anorexia. The frightening part is that there are thousands of girls around the world suffering these sorts of thoughts and emotions. The cries for help from various blogs/chatrooms were heart wrenching and the self-harming was horrific. So while it was a powerful, story, it certainly wasn't enjoyable.

[daffimere · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A word of warning: 'Don't wear any eye make-up. It WILL run.'

Wintergirls is a tear-jerker.

I can't believe that I haven't read this author before!!

[mzzcolby · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Competing in a game to see who can be thinner than the other, Cassie has “won” and has left suffering Lia behind. Racked with guilt for not having the ability to save her, Lia is haunted by the memories of her best friend. Trying to hold on to hope and her own health, she she struggles on the path to recovery from Anorexia. Anderson delivers another emotionally trying young adult novel as she delves into the reasons why Lia believes she is stronger even as she becomes dangerously thinner. Any reader who has battled with self-image will painfully relate to the inner voices that dominate her thoughts and her actions. At times the text seems as if it could be used as a “self-help guide” for those who might not understand the serious consequences of battling with Anorexia, though the intention of the author is surely to inform and discourage the reader.

[rdwhitenack · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A powerful book about the powers of eating disorders. Lia's friend Cassie dies alone in a hotel room after suffering from an eating disorder for years. Lia is left with guilt of being left behind after their friendship was strained. Lia struggles in her relationships, particularly with her family. She's distant from her mom, dad, and stepmom, but is a doting and caring older sister. Eventually the disease she has overtakes her daily functions and she continues her selfish, destructive acts to tragic ends.

A book that I enjoyed, but does contain a twist regarding ghosts I did like. However, Halse has written poignantly on yet another topic that highly reflects on the lives of young adults.