Review: Wintergirls

Title:  Wintergirls

Author:  Laurie Halse Anderson

Review Copy Provided by: Penguin, won from Laura's Review Bookshelf

About the Book:  "Dead girl walking," the boys say in the halls. "Tell us your secret," the girls whisper, one toilet to another. I am that girl. I am ht espace between my thighs, daylight shining through. I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

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.

My Review:  I just have to get this off my chest - This book was freakin' awesome!  I enjoy most of the books I read, and if I don't, I'll tell you.  This one though, WOW!  I took this one with me to the rodeo last week, and read in between the classes that were showing.  You should have seen me...standing behind the stalls, reading, oblivious to the world around me, until I was needed to help out with the event.  I've read in alot of places, but this was a first for me.  I had read alot of reviews on this one and just had to see for myself what all the hype was about.  Well, it definitely needed to be hyped up, because it's that good.  This is the first Laurie Halse Anderson that I've read, although Chains is on my wish list.

Like I said, I'd read many reviews before I started the book, but nothing prepared me for what I was about to get sucked into, and I don't mean that in a bad way.  Anderson writes so that you are "in the story."  I felt as if I really knew Lia.  I could hurt, cry, empathize, and celebrate with her as she dealt with the loss of a friend, the tragedy behind what happened, and trying to overcome a disease that was trying to kill her. 

What I loved most about this book was the writing.  Not only is Anderson a great writer, she writes so that it appears the character has written the story.  To me, it was alot like a diary.  The chapters don't always start on a new page, which is different from most books.  Lia's voice comes through in the writing so strongly.  I liked the fact that when Lia was thinking, a smaller font was used and it was separated from the rest of the text. 

This was one that I couldn't put down until I had finished it.  I highly recommend this title to lovers of Young Adult fiction, be they young adults or not.  It is one that I hope high school/college age girls will read so that they are aware of the dangers of eating disorders.  I will definitely read more Laurie Halse Anderson because of this book.

I was excited to see that on the Wintergirl's website, you can get a copy of a Teacher's Guide for the book.  Eating disorders are a serious issue and we, as educators, should do our part to educate our teens about the dangers of them.