Wintergirls (Rachael Blanchard)

Wintergirls
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Published by Penguin Group
278 pages

I bought this book from Barnes and Noble when I heard that this author came out with another book.

Wintergirls is a heart wrenching novel. The narrator and main character, Lia, suffers from a life taking disease. She is anorexic and wasting away bit by bit. Her best friend Cassie died from having an eating disorder and her spirit is in a way haunting Lia. Cassie talks to Lia and encourages her to keep going on the path she is on. Her weight keeps dropping and when she eats anything at all, it’s the number of calories that consumes her mind. Cassie tells her that she is closer and closer to death and being reunited again. Lia is constantly in the hospital because her body is in bad condition. This novel is full of despair, but you will never want to put this book down.

The audience for this book is teenage girls because this book is about a teenage girl going through self image problems that many girls deal with today.

The author’s writing style is written as if a teenager wrote it. When you read it, it doesn’t sound like an adult is speaking for a teenager, but as if the author were not an adult. The dialogue sounds like how young adults talk, so the reader can relate to it easily. Quote to support author’s style:“ ‘ What are you talking about? She didn’t call me.’ Sasha puts her hand on my arm. ‘Calm down, Lia.’ ‘Calm? How can I be calm? She’s dead!’I am standing. I am screaming. I think I threw my yogurt at lettuce&ketchup.A fat security guard fish swims over to protect the peace.”(108)

Three passages that impacted me:“….she called.thirty three times.you didn’t answer.body found in a motel room, alone.you left her alone.should should should have done anything everything.you killed her.” (97)This passage struck me because all of this is going through the main character’s head. It’s so much to carry on your shoulders. This girl is on the verge of dying and she is feeling guilty for her friend that died. It’s as if she can’t realize that she is on the same road that her friend was on and it could be her fate as well.

“I should be diamond sparkly champagne shooting to the stars, but the loudspeaker between my ears crackless on, full volume, with another goal: 085.00, 085.00, 0.85.00.” (189)This passage also struck me because I could never imagine being 85 pounds. At this point in the book she is 94 pounds and that is insane enough as it is. I find it shocking that people try so hard to be that skinny when there is no need for it. I have never seen a person weighed at 85 pounds as a teenager. But to me that sounds like a cry for help. It really shocks me at the thought of having a crazy goal like that.

“The music from my bedroom shrieks so loud against the mirror it’s making my ears ring. I stare at the ghost girl on the other side, her corset bones waiting to be laced even tighter so she can fold in on herself over and over until she disappears past zero.” (223)This passage struck me as well because to me it’s deep. She is trying to get even thinner and at no cost too. It sounds like it would never stop and it bothers me to think that someone could think so less of themselves. She is basically saying that it’s no expense because it’s like she is not even living anymore. That is where the title comes from. She is a winter girl where she isn’t living, but she’s not dead. It’s very bothersome to me.

This novel spoke to me about how self image is a real issue with teenagers. I had self image issues, but everyone does. Lia took it over the top especially with constantly keeping track of the calories in every single thing she ate. That made me have a better perception of anorexia and what people who go through that are thinking. The part that was the craziest was when Lia stabbed herself in the ribs with a knife. I understand where her breaking point was, but it was hard to handle reading that. This novel opened my eyes to the mental state of someone who is going through an eating disorder.