Waiting on Wednesday: Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Two more days....enter the giveaway here.

A reminder that Waiting on Wednesdays are books that I have previously read and published on our family blog. For example, Wintergirls I read this past April.
I will also post a review of the book I just finished, Torched, today.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Teen Fiction, 2009

Wintergirls is about two teenage girls who grow up with bulimia/anorexia. Lia is the anorexic, and was 'converted' to being a skinny 'wintergirl' by her best friend Cassie, who is bulimic. Cassie dies in a hotel room one night because of binging and purging with alcohol, resulting in a rather gruesome death. They hadn't been talking for a few months since Cassie was trying to stop, but Lia didn't want to. Basically this book discusses Lia's thoughts with regard to anorexia; specifically about her desire to be skinny. At one point she realizes it doesn't matter how much she weighs, because in the end she'll always want to lose more. Zero is the ultimate goal.
This was one of the best written books I've read in a while. She just has a gift with her words, and the way she moved them around really worked, especially with such a dramatic subject. She does have a thing with swearing - I just feel like it's such a horrible thing to add to teen literature. The last thing a teenager needs is help releasing more anger. There is one f-word, so I am officially not recommending it to anyone since I absolutely hate that word. It's also so depressing for most of the book, so most people wouldn't want to read it anyways.

I do also feel there were a couple things she could have done differently. 1. Cassie's mom begs Lia to come over. For comfort, and to tell her and explain to her why her daughter did this. Lia never returns her phone calls and never even has the guts to say hi to her. I think that's really horrible. If nothing else, Cassie's mom would have at least been able to understand and mourn with her. 2. I hate the guy. He's such a jerk. And the thing is, Lia has no friends in the whole book. NOT ONE. So, the guy needed to be a great guy, or she needed to go to Cassie's mom. But someone needed to be a friend. Because in the real world, there is always someone to help and who cares.
Ok, I'll stop with my tirade. Graded ...B-.