From Product Description:

Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

A Junior Library Guild selection

I loved this book. It was just amazing. I have a friend who is anorexic, and this is frighteningly accurate. It really is a terrible disease, and this book makes it more real, and less of an, "They just need to eat. It's their choice!" and more of an, "It was their choice to begin it, but now, the obsession to be thin runs their lives."

Gorgeous writing. Loved the characters. Loved the storyline. I would highly recommend this book. And read it more than once.

Raw, painful, realistic, sad, beautiful, heart wrenching . . . all these words can be used to describe Wintergirls. <br /> <br />I knew going into this one that it deals with eating disorders. But Wintergirls deals with so much more. It touches on loss, depression, family problems, and cutting. It was a very heavy read. Unbelievably sad. But it was one of the most beautifully written stories I have read so far. My hand stayed over my heart just about the whole time I was reading Wintergirls. <br /> <br />Cassie and Lia care about nothing but being the thinnest. Their obsession costs Cassie her life. Cassie's death leaves Lia in a terrible, self-destructive state. The emotions get to you so much that you felt them like your own. You are put inside the head of an extreme anorexic. Someone who can barley eat, but has food on the brain constantly. Every time you eat is a punishment. Every little speck of food must be counted. It was exhausting. I couldn't imagine ever having to live like that. But at the same time, you can completely understand where Lia is coming from. We have all gone through times that we mentally kick ourselves for eating too much. Multiply that by 100, and you are getting closer to the misery Lia is in. Now living with the guilt of a lost friend only makes it worse. Lia's struggle wasn't like anything else I have ever read before. The author brings to life her voice in a way that will wrap around your mind and hold you captive until the very last page. <br /> <br />The writing is unbelievably lyrical and poetic. It did a wonderful job at magnifying the emotions. Many of the jarring and raw descriptions stayed in my head long after I put the book down. I also liked how Anderson crosses out many words in the book to show Lia's struggle. <br /> <br />Wintergirls is a book that is very hard to digest, but so worth it if you do. It's a book that is read through the cracks of your fingers as you are covering your eyes. It will make you take a good look at your own relationship with food. Because no one would ever want to live life the way Lia does. I am very glad I read Wintergirls. A little piece of Lia and her story will forever be with me now.

This is a truly captivating story about a teenage girl and her struggles with anorexia. Though it's a young adult novel, it is certainly a book I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in the welfare of young girls - whether you're a parent, relative, teacher, or friend of someone struggling with an eating disorder. Laurie Halse Anderson does an incredible job at portraying the clouded mindset of this disorder, as Lia, the main character, struggles with her weight at 99 pounds being 5'5". It's a quick and interesting read, as it's told from Lia's point of view - so it allows you to get an authentic view of the thought processes that exist with body image distortion. After the death of her best friend, Lia's world quickly spirals out of control, leaving you to flip pages faster than you can read them to find out if she's able to pull herself together. This book is certainly an educational piece that would be helpful for anyone to read - as it clearly portrays how relationships and life circumstances can cause a person to try and "gain control" in other ways - as in Lia's control (or lack thereof) with her weight. <br /> <br />- Monique Ritter, Author of The Song Unsung

product (novel, wintergirls) in top condition, but i had to wait a few weeks before it arrived in the mail.