Wintergirls Review

When Lia met Cassie during her third-grade year

, there was no denying the two would be best friends forever.

Lia watched out for Cassie. When Cassie was teased and shunned in fifth grade, Lia stood up for her. When Cassie first threw up her food on purpose, Lia covered for her.

Lia is devastated by their breakup. That's why, six months later, when Cassie calls Lia 33 times in one evening, Lia refuses to answer. Later, Lia learns Cassie was calling her for help, and when help never came, Cassie died, alone, in a motel room, the victim of her obsession with body image.

Lia struggles to deal with the guilt but is impeded by the spirit of Cassie, which haunts her daily, telling her that she is waiting for Lia to join her and encouraging her to "Hurry up, okay?" (p. 244). Meanwhile, Lia continues to go to school, see her doctor, and chauffeur her stepsister to soccer practice. Yet as Lia moves in between realities, she soon finds it harder and harder to maintain control.

With Cassie taunting her and her body pleading for food, Lia's quest to be the thinnest becomes almost desperate. She continually degrades and starves herself, obsessively counting calories and cutting her skin, all the while trying to fool her family into believing she is fine. Lia's mother, a doctor, senses what Lia is doing but still feels powerless to stop it, and her father, a professor, has little time to put toward building a relationship with his daughter. Jennifer, Lia's stepmom, takes on the task of weighing Lia every week to ensure she is maintaining her weight, but with quarters sewn into the pockets of her robe, Lia clings to her lie.

Only Emma, Lia's younger stepsister, seems to make Lia feel something like her old self, like "a real girl" (p. 29, emphasis in the original). Lia wants nothing more than to spend time with Emma and make her laugh, but even her love for Emma is not enough to stop her downward spiral. Only after confronting her demons and truly asking for help does Lia find the hope and the acceptance she has been looking for.

Once again, Anderson tackles a difficult problem plaguing teen girls and gives it a real voice. With its numerous flashbacks and graphic scenes, this book provides a challenging but worthwhile read for older adolescents. Anderson's use of creative, multilayered narrative and evocative description help exemplify the fact that eating disorders have no easy solution; they are, in fact, inner battles that are sometimes won and sometimes lost. For an audience of struggling teens, Lia's battle will undoubtedly be painful, but it is one that is honest and, ultimately, hopeful.

Wintergirls Review

By: endeavor

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