Monday, January 4, 2010

Wintergirls

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Dedication: "To Scot - for building the fire that keeps me warm when the blizzard rages outside."

First paragraph: "So she tells me, the words dribbling out with the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee. She tells me four sentences. No, five. I can't let me hear this, but it's too late. The facts sneak in and stab me. When she gets to the worst part ... body found in a motel room, alone ... my walls go up and my doors lock. I nod like I'm listening, like we're communicating, and she never knows the difference."

Review: Lia and Cassie have been friends since 3rd grade. Lia and Cassie have been both good and very bad for each other. Lia and Cassie weren't speaking anymore when Cassie died - in a motel room, alone. Now Lia has to decide if she wants to join Cassie or create a future for herself.

This is a story about a girl who has a lot of issues. Her eating disorders are just the chip of the iceberg. It took me almost the entire book to "enjoy" the story. But towards the end I realized how important all the chapters that came before were to the final result. You have to understand everything about Lia before you can start to understand why she has such a struggle with food and more importantly, life.

This book touches on an issue that affects more people than I think we could imagine. I don't know how accurate the story is but I'm guessing Anderson did her research because it all makes sense. It enlightens me. It helps me better understand what people with eating disorders might experience.

I am glad I read this book but it wasn't a happy story at all. It was educational and slightly inspiring but it took reading it to the end to really get into. So if that is what you are looking for I'd give this book a try.

Click here for Laurie Halse Anderson's website.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Brooke! I was reading your blog and saw the link. I didn't know you read so much! Probably a good thing, or I would have been way too intimidated to send you my stuff. Hope things are going well for you guys! I may get some of these next time I go to the library!