What would you do if your best friend - make that former best friend - called you 33 times on the night she died? How would you feel if you didn’t answer? How about you add on a truckload of emotional problems, a totally screwed up family, and - oh, I forgot - a major eating disorder that leaves you barely alive?
Welcome to Lia’s world.
Once, Lia and Cassie had tons of things in common. Now, they have only one thing: they both suffer from eating disorders that are slowly, painfully, killing them. Each one slowly inches her way towards death, a final escape from a world making both of them miserable. Then, a winner. Cassie, with the help of bulimia and an unhealthy dose of vodka, dies.
Will Lia join her? She knows every weight loss trick in the book. Fooling her parents with pretend eating and faked weight gains, it seems like a sure thing. And why did Cassie finally reach out to her, too late now? Why does she keep reaching out to Lia even from beyond the grave? Could it be that Cassie wants Lia to keep her company?
Wintergirls is an amazingly well-written story from the author of another amazing YA book, Speak. It is a complex story of psychological and emotional problems that run too deep for any teen, or her parents, to understand. You’ll find yourself wishing that she both gets help, and maybe just shuts up and gets over herself, at the same time.
LAME FACTOR: No lameness here. I give it a zero. Please stop telling me there’s nothing interesting to read.
YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: I guess there are a few things your parents might not like; you know, like the sharp razors and ingestion of vodka. It’s an important topic, though, so get your parents to take a look at it, and then get reading.
BRAIN POWER: Like I said, Wintergirls is extremely well-written. It’s not ridiculously complex, but might be a challenge for younger readers. High school and most good, middle school readers shouldn’t have a problem.
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