Wintergirls

Wintergirls
By: Laurie Halse Anderson

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 step-mother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way- thin, thinner, thinnest- maybe she'll disappear altogether.

summary from back of book

My Rating: 5/5

So if you haven't read any book by Laurie Halse Anderson you need to get your hands on one, Wintergirls in particular. I started reading Laurie's novels when I actually qualified as a young adult haha. ;) I was in the eighth grade when I picked up Speak and remember being so struck by that particular novel. Wintergirls, I feel, is even better. Anderson has such a way with words. I'm always so struck by her lyrical and poetic writing style because it's something that I don't encounter very often in other novels.

Her characters are always so painstakingly real, Wintergirls being no different. Lia is an interesting character to see the world through. At times it's difficult to read what she's thinking or doing, her struggle to be excruciatingly thin hard to grasp and take in. One thing I really liked that Anderson did was show the different realities between Lia's honest thoughts in contrast to her actions. I very much loved this novel and think everyone who gets the chance, should read it.