Anderson, Laurie Halse. (2009). Wintergirls. New York: Viking. ISBN: 978-0-670-01110-0. p. 278
Genre: Fiction
Interest Age: 14+
Curriculum: NA
Reader's Annotation
Lia is a senior in high school and only weighs 95 lbs. When she learns he best friend died alone in a motel bathroom she plunges into a spiral of self delusion and anorexia that only she can save herself from.
Plot Summery
Lia is a senior in high school and has just learned that her recently estranged best friend has died. Lia looks at her life and sees a mother who is more focused on her career than her daughter, a father who still sees her as a little girl, a step mother who doesn't really know her at all, and a reflection that is always 5 pounds heavier than she wants. By controlling her weight, Lia hopes to control the pain caused by her broken family, the guilt over her friend's death and the sense of hopelessness which is slowly consuming her life.
As Lia becomes thinner, in her mind she becomes stronger. More in control. But in reality she is wasting away until she will eventually be nothing and feel nothing. Ultimately the choice to live or die is hers, but for Lia, the choice between asking for help and continuing to spiral into the darkness is not clear and simple.
Critical Evaluation
Wintergirls is not really a story about anorexia, eating disorders, cutting, broken homes, or depression, although all of these topics are topics are covered in sometimes gut wrenching detail. This is a story about feeling lost and forgotten. It is about how self destructive one can become in order to feel in control of their life.
Anderson has a wonderful ability to adapt her prose to fit the mental state of the narrator, Lia. At times she is lyrical. Other times she is cold a methodical. Sometimes manic. The structure and syntax of guilds the reader through Lia's deteriorating physical and mental state. Lia is a person who is in conflict with herself. She wants to see herself in a certain way. She wants to define the people around her in a certain way. There are constantly thoughts, feelings, and desires which Lia edits (and Anderson lets the reader see in the form of crossed out phrases and passages).
Lia's journey is painful and thus the reader's experience is painful. Anderson makes the reader feel everything Lia feels: Her calorie counting. Her slow, self inflicted cuts. Her obsession to always be in control of her words, thoughts, and actions. And most of all, her sense of loneliness and isolation. Unfortunately these can be all too familiar feels for teens. Those who have experienced these feelings more often than not would like to forget them. But for anyone who hasn't completely forgotten them, Lia's story can bring them rushing back.
Wintergirls is by no means an easy reading experience but it is one that is tremendously rewarding and shows that there is hope for people who are in even the darkest places.
Author Note
Laurie Halse Anderson is the author of over a dozen novels. Her most famous work, Speak follows the story of a freshman girl who after being sexually assaulted at a party, chooses to become nearly mute. The book received several prestigious literary awards and also is frequently one of the most challenged books in schools and libraries.
Anderson is passionate about writing from teens saying,
I love teenagers because they are honest. I love teenagers because they are raw and passionate. They think in black and white and are willing to go to extremes to defend their beliefs.... I love teenagers because they challenge me, and because they frustrate me. They give me hope. They give me nightmares. They are our children, and they deserve the best books we can write." (“Laurie Halse Anderson”, 2008)
She is also the author of the “Wild at Heart” series, aimed at older elementary school readers. Her other works include Fever, 1973 (2000), The Big Cheese on Third Street (2002), Prom (2005), and Twisted (2007).
"Laurie Halse Anderson." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from "Laurie Halse Anderson." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Apr. 2010.
Challenges
There have been no well publicized challenges towards Wintergirls (probably because it is relatively new & only available in hardcover) but the book does discuss in very realistic ways: anorexia, bulimia, cutting (self mutilation), and alcohol and drug abuse. There is also some profanity and violence (which is self inflicted). Several of Anderson's other works have been repeatedly challenged including Speak and Twisted. Anderson deals with real problems in a very realistic and unflinching manner.
Book Talking
1. What was Lia's relationship with her family? How does this affect her life and the decisions she makes?
2. What was Lia's relationship with Cassie? How does this relationship affect her choices?
3. Do Lia's family and friends know she is still anorexic? How do they try to help? Are they successful?
Why I choose this book
I was interested in reading Speak, but was unable to readily obtain a copy. I choose this because the subject self destructive disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and cutting is something that an alarming number of teens go through yet few people like to talk about.
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