Wintergirls
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling story of a friendship frozen between life and death
Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffers the ultimate loss—her life—and Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend's memory and racked with guilt for not being able to help save her. In her most powerfully moving novel since Speak, award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's struggle, her painful path to recovery, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the most important thing of all: hope.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Acute anorexia, self-mutilation, dysfunctional families and the death of a childhood friend returning to psychological minefields akin to those explored in Speak, Anderson delivers a harrowing story overlaid with a trace of mysticism. The book begins as Lia learns that her estranged best friend, Cassie, has been found dead in a motel room; Lia tells no one that, after six months of silence, Cassie called her 33 times just two days earlier, and that Lia didn't pick up even once. With Lia as narrator, Anderson shows readers how anorexia comes to dominate the lives of those who suffer from it (here, both Lia and Cassie), even to the point of fueling intense competition between sufferers. The author sets up Lia's history convincingly and with enviable economy her driven mother is "Mom Dr. Marrigan," while her stepmother's values are summed up with a pr cis of her stepsister's agenda: "Third grade is not too young for enrichment, you know." This sturdy foundation supports riskier elements: subtle references to the myth of Persephone and a crucial plot line involving Cassie's ghost and its appearances to Lia. As difficult as reading this novel can be, it is more difficult to put down. Ages 12 up.
Customer Reviews
My fav
Ive read this book twice thats how much I liked it. It's one of those books that once you get into it you can't put it down till the end. It uses amazing figurative language!!! Ever page paints a picture in your head. I would suggest to any teenage girl in middle or high school.
5 stars
Anderson is one of my favorite authors growing up into adulthood. I resonated with this novel as we follow a young girl along with her anorexia and grief during winter.
I read this while in rehab and it gave me a sense of relief in the fact that the emotions I was overwhelmed by were, unfortunately, experienced by many others in the world.
I think about the ending of this book whenever the sun comes out in the morning.
Very amazingly written!
But also very very triggering.