Wintergirls
Realistic Fiction
Laurie Halse Anderson
Read by Kaya Luciani
4.5 out of 5 stars
“089.00.
I could say I’m excited, but that would be a lie. The number doesn’t matter. If I got down to 070.00., I’d want 065.00. If I weighed 010.00., I wouldn’t be happy until I got down to 005.00. The only number that would ever be enough is 0. Zero pounds, zero life, size zero, double zero, zero point. Zero in tennis is love. I finally get it” (Anderson 220).
Not eating. Exercising. Cutting. Not eating. Weighing. Lying. Not eating. Too much. More exercise. Too much. More cutting. Too much. Less food…
Lia, an 18 year old anorexic lives every day with one thought in her head: I’m too fat. I must. Not. Eat. Imagine living a life where every day is one big marathon to get skinnier. To be the thinnest. This has all become normal for Lia. She’s learned how to get out of every situation that includes food, or revealing her true weight to her ever strict parents. She’s been to hell and back, only to be stuffed like a turkey until weighing the desired amount, and being sent home just to start the cycle over again. Now imagine living this uncontrollable nightmare one day, and you’re best friend dying the next. Cassie understood Lia. She was bulimic, staggering through all the same issues, and holding Lia up like a backbone. Then Cassie finally found her breaking point, and Lia is about to find hers.
Throughout the story, Anderson writes with a style that makes it really easy to feel Lia’s pain. You can almost get inside her head and know exactly what she’s thinking. The author does this by using differing fonts for Lia’s thoughts that are separate from the text, crossing out words and statements that in a real situation, she would change her mind about, and showing calorie numbers every time Lia thinks about food. The story represents more than just the challenges that come with having an eating disorder, but also clearly shows how important friends and family are. Even if you just want them to disappear, they are somehow always guiding you in the right direction. I recommend this to readers who are in to deeper and darker books. It includes a lot of powerful adolescent emotions, which could be perfect for a teenage girl. When I read the last sentence of the book, I was left with that feeling that makes you want to sit forever in that still, quiet moment and think about everything you just read. Hopefully you can experience the same magic.
