Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

ISBN: 067001110X
Available: New and Used

Many times in Wintergirls, the main character mentions feeling like a puppet whose strings are being pulled, which in turn is a fitting description for the feel of this book. Wintergirls is the story of Lia, who suffers from anorexia, depression, and a family who sees her as nothing but a burden. Her best friend Cassie suffered too, until she died alone in a hotel room. That’s where the book starts, and reading through Lia’s breakdown is like a series of progressively numbing slaps. Anderson weaves the strings of this story together into something fierce, beautiful and so terrible it hurts to read.

I highly recommend it, despite triggering potential, because this kind of spotlight being shed on problems is something we desperately need as a society. Furthermore, as libraries are all too often the only safe place children and teens in need have to go to try to learn more about themselves, books like Wintergirls is an essential to public collections.

Contains: extreme anorexia, depression, language, cutting, drug use