Wintergirls

Tue, 07/28/2009 - 1:53pm by celesteh

“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.

Those familiar with young adult author Laurie Halse Anderson know that her novels center around hard-hitting subject matter that is often a little controversial. Her 2001 novel Speak dealt with a teenage girl that eventually becomes mute after a severe trauma and social isolation. In Anderson's newest novel, Wintergirls, high school senior Lia deals with the death of her once best friend Cassie, her feelings of guilt surrounding the death, a dysfunctional home life, and her struggle with anorexia and self-mutilation. The book, written in the voice of Lia, delves deep into her thoughts and feelings which are often quite different from what she chooses to express vocally or what she tells herself to feel (or eat). She is haunted day and night by Cassie, and is swiftly losing her grip on reality. The question is, can Lia recover?

According to author Anderson, she had received many letters from her young readers that were struggling with eating disorders which had prompted her idea for Wintergirls. Highly recommended.