Young Writers Society

I feel like some people would say this book is 16+ but I dont. I think everyone should read this book.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

One of the BEST and most haunting books I've ever read. This is about a a girl named Lia Marrigan Overbrook, who feels like she is nothing but the "space between her thighs, the light shining through." Lia is anorexic, and her friends Cassie, who was bullimic, died alone in a motel room and before her death she had called Lia 33 times. Lia never answered because of their drifting friendship. Now, her empty stomach is no longer empty, it is filled with guilt and other distorted emotions. Cassies death is triggering her again, and she is getting closer and closer to her third time being hospitalized, especially when she starts seeing Cassie's ghost.
The story of this book is not only powerful, but the writing is, too, and also chilling and haunting. One reason is because this takes you into the mind of an anorexic, and this is really what goes on in their heads. But also what goes on in our heads, not the same situations or thoughts, but this is truly how people think, and in some cases the format in which we think. Such as, how whenever Lia adresses her mother, mother is crossed and and it replaced by Dr. Marrigan (her mother is a doctor). Like this: My mother Dr. Marrigan... or I want to eat, I can eat the whole box I dont like eating, i dont like eating, I love not eating. And Andersons imagery as AMAZING, and she uses the best metaphors.
I think everyone should read this book, whether to understand eating disorders more, or even to just get a look at the writing.
It also goes into the reasons of how she started and how she stopped. It's about realizing who you are and what you can be, that we are worth so much more than what we may think. Lia is a Wintergirl, frozen in a state wear everything is distorted, including her vision, she is not quite alive, but she is not quite dead. She feels like if she can unzip her skin and step out, she would be able to see who she really is. It's about lost oppurtunities, finding yourself, and thawing away the ice.
Some people may not like this because the subject is very depressing and the book is truly haunting and chilling, but for me, it was in a good way.

I've read Wintergirls and I loved it. It's one of my favorite book (I've read it twice). The way Laurie Halse Anderson writes is amazing. I loved how crossing out the words and how she used things like whispershout to show how confused Lia was. She did wonderfully finding Lia's voice in the story and I think that's why I loved reading it so much. It's very sad but I recommend it to anyone who wants to read it; I don't really think you should put an age limit on something that is written that well. But the language towards the middle of the book might be one of the reasons most people think it should be 16+.

~peanut~

I've heard of it.
My best friend (Jayde) read it and she was like that it's pretty fucking awesome.
I've been trying to get it and read it but just haven't gotten around to it yet.
I'm trying not to read this forum to much and spoil it for myself just thought I'd share it.
I read "Speak" by her & omg I went crazy. I loved that book so much I couldn't but it down.
It didn't catch my attention at FIRST but then I read a little more & it got really interesting.
That book is awesome so if anyone hasn't read it you totally should. The thing about "Speak" is that it keeps you wondering, like wtf happened? Lol it's full of mystery and wonders but it all just explodes at the end.
But yeah I wanna read Wintergirls bad!
I'll re-post when I finally read it which I'm hoping will be soon =)
-Libby

I READ HER BOOK SPEAK AND FELL FOR HER WRITING. SPEAK WAS A GREAT BOOK AND I LOVED READING IT!!

Alright, I'm a guy, and I was forced to read this by a (female) friend, so I was less partial to it than you guys, but I did enjoy it very much.

It was very compelling, and definitely created a sense of how distressed and confused someone would feel after going through a traumatic event as described in the book, but...some of Anderson's literary devices irked me. I liked the strike-outs to show her "true" feelings, and the calorie-counting as she ate (which probably was the biggest point that revealed how vulnerable she (I can't remember her name) was.) What bothered me was the random momentum-kill of scenes because, for some reason she decided to put all the numbers 1 through 33 in the middle of the page. I know her friend called her 33 times, but it was just so disruptive, and it didn['t work the same way the "She called me. She called me 33 times." did. It was just...superfluous, I guess.

The other thing that irked me was this one chapter that I vividly remember where out of nowhere, the narrator decides to imagine everyone around her is a fish. It was so out of nowhere...I was so jarred. I just remember lines like "teacher fish swims over and tells us student fish to work" and I was just confusedly staring at the page...I understood the purpose of everything else in the book except for this.

And I liked the one line at the end: "I am thawing." The best moment in the book.

There were also some wonderful metaphors scattered in there too...I just remember a reference to someone's tongue being a "pink conveyor belt" which really revealed how the narrator (Leah?) viewed eating as something mechanical. It's a fascinating book, and I liked the insight into an anorexic's life...I just never connected with any of the characters, and I've never had an issue (even a minor one) with my weight, so there was certain distance I had while reading it. Good book, though, certainly. I think anyone 12+ with an interest should read it, because if they're fascinated by the topic I think it's an important book...it addresses eating disorders without being health-class preachy, so it's definitely an important book.