Some months after a fall out with her best friend Cassie, Lia receives the news that she has died … Eating disorders are mental illnesses that need to be taken seriously and treated by professionals. It’s a terrible one, isn’t it?” and then I would ask her about what makes her joyful and what she is afraid of. It knows exactly what to say to hurt her. Her father is away on business. [1] In 2009, the novel received the Kirkus Reviews best YA book. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Lia has been struggling with eating disorders for quite some time and none of the help she received has made much of a difference. Wintergirls has a permanent place on my keeper shelf.

And most of all, I wanted Lia to live. Interview with the author about this book, “A brutal and poetic deconstruction of how one girl stealthily vanishes into the depths of anorexia.” I also talked to women and men who had been in recovery for a very long time. How Did You Study/Research Eating Disorders? Lia, after therapy for her anorexia, lives with her father and stepmother.

She doesn’t want to die. Last night she slept there in a silver drawer, eyes getting used to the dark.

"[8], "Tabs like seeds growing & a poem to make you sing", "Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson – review", "Reviews of 'A Comrade Lost and Found' and 'Wintergirls, "Wintergirls: Possibly Triggering, Definitely Thought-Provoking", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wintergirls&oldid=973880203, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 19 August 2020, at 19:34. Lia’s struggle with both her eating disorder and her guilt is heightened when Cassie’s ghost appears to her at night. This book is stark, beautiful, and also painful. I cried my way through every draft of that book and emerged a much healthier person for it at the end. Ms. Anderson is a consummate stylist and I loved the descriptions in the story. Jennifer. But if read as part of a conversation...perhaps it could make a teen's world a little less dark. Jezebel observes that "read without supervision or discussion [for vulnerable teens] Wintergirls could indeed be triggering. Cassie had called Lia 33 times the night of her death. What Would You Say to a Teenager Who Looks in the Mirror and Hates Her Body? I worked with psychiatrists and other doctors who specialize in the treatment of eating disorders. They were going to do whatever it took to be completely in control of their bodies, to be thin, to be thinner, to be perfect. [7] However, some critics have expressed concerned that Wintergirls could serve as a "trigger" novel, encouraging eating disorders in young girls rather than dissuading them. I know that Wintergirls has opened the door to many important conversations. Jennifer is Lia's stepmom.