WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls is the first Laurie Halse Anderson book I've ever read. I currently have Speak on my TBR pile (which is growing larger every day, LOL). But when I saw this in Target, I couldn't resist snagging a copy and digging in.

In Wintergirls, anorexic teenager Lia learns that her former best friend Cassie died alone in a hotel room, after making 33 desperate calls to Lia's cell...which Lia, still hurt over their friendship breakup, never answered. Now, Lia is haunted by Cassie's death, tortured by Cassie's ghost and her own hyperforcused compulsion/obsession to be thin, thinner, the thinnest she can be.

Every bite Lia eats is measured in calories, every meal carefully planned for minimum calorie intake, which are quickly evaporated by fervent exercising. Yes, Lia has been in and out of the clinic to help with her problem, but it hasn't changed her view of herself as a fat stupid girl. And it hasn't helped her tense relationship with her mom, or with her dad's new wife and daughter.

But things are bubbling over, festering in Lia, and she has to decide quickly how she's going to deal with her messed-up life--before it's too late.

I started reading Wintergirls a few days ago, devouring it in several lengthy stretches. I found the story difficult to read in spots--Lia's obvious unreliability as a narrator in terms of her self-perception was genuine, painful, mesmerizing. I wanted to shake her and hug her at the same time and say, "You're killing yourself! Why can't you see that?" It was chilling to watch her plunge headfirst into her skewed reality, to see how desperate she was to lose just another pound, again and again and again.

Even though I felt uncomfortable in Lia's skin as I read Wintergirls, I kept turning the pages. Even though I feared how it would end, I couldn't stop reading. In a way, Lia's compulsion became my own--how skinny COULD she get? Will she overcome this obsession with being thin, or will it overtake her?

This was my first Laurie Halse Anderson book, and it knocked the air out of my lungs. An amazing, sorrowful, hopeful, painful story. Gritty. Real. Edgy. Lyrical. And one that will linger with me for a long time to come. I am very, very eager to pick up more of her stuff--her power as a writer is awe-inspiring.