Bagel (330), cream cheese (80), orange juice (110) = Too much, scary, horrifying. This is the way recovering anorexic, Lia, lives her life. Lia controls what she eats while every other aspect of her life spins out of control.
When we first meet Lia, her former best friend, Cassie, has just died and Lia feels guilty because she is the last person Cassie called before she died. Cassie called thirty-three times and Lia didn’t answer a single one of them. Cassie and Lia were childhood best friends. They did everything together, including playing in the tree house and swearing to be the skinniest girls ever. They called themselves the ‘matchstick girls.’ In high school, Cassie stopped talking to Lia and the friendship diminished. After her death, Lia is haunted by Cassie and her guilt for not answering Cassie’s many calls. Lia searches for answers, but struggles to figure out why Cassie called her. Then, Lia meets Elijah, a young man who works at the hotel where Cassie died and is likely the last person to talk to Cassie. Elijah gives Lia a message from Cassie: “Tell Lia she won” (219). Because Cassie had died, Lia is now the skinniest girl.
After Cassie’s death, Lia’s parents become concerned that it has awoken Lia’s old habits, although we come to learn that those habits never went away. Lia has had two separate recovering stints at New Seasons, a rehabilitation center. She gave the experts the answers they wanted to hear, ate the food she needed eat, and gained the necessary weight to be released. After leaving New Seasons the second time, she moves out of her over-bearing mother’s house and into her father and step-mother’s house. Throughout the story, it is apparent that Lia’s relationships with all of these adults are strained and the only relationship she cares about, the one with her step-sister Emma, is the one she almost destroys because of her eating disorder and cutting.
That’s just the beginning! Read Wintergirls to find out if Lia overcomes her struggles with anorexia and cutting.
Wintergirls is an exceptional piece of fiction that is based on very realistic issues: eating disorders, depression, and being lost. Many middle school and high school females and males face these issues and do not know how to overcome them and sometimes are not sure they want to overcome them. This novel is best suited for mature middle school or high school students. The issues discussed are very serious and the readers need to be able to handle them. Wintergirls has a somewhat slow start, where Anderson gives the reader a lot of background details. This could be beneficial to readers who need a lot of detail or who are reading below grade level. The story does not move too fast and readers will not get lost or confused. Anderson gives very rich character descriptions, which helps the reader remember who is who. In addition, the chapters are short and readers will be able to take frequent breaks without stopping in the middle of a chapter. Most importantly, Wintergirls is a novel that could be used as a literacy component in a health class. Despite being a piece of fiction, Wintergirls sheds light on the consequences of anorexia and cutting, which are two very serious issues that are discussed in middle school and high school health classes.
17 comments:
Because of the seriousness of this book's content, I might wonder if this might be beneficial for younger students such as freshman or sophomores as well. I know anorexia especially is very prevalent with many teenage girls and it is something that needs to be discussed and dealt with early on so girls are more prepared to be able to handle such radical emotions. My best friend battled this disease and it takes a LOT of work to overcome it. This sounds like a very depressing but interesting book.
Amy: Thank you for your comments. I also agree that issues like anorexia need to discussed early on. I have also found it helpful to let our school counselors know when I will be discussing issues such as depression and eating disorders in health class.
Many young women struggle with self-esteem and confidence. Weight tends to be one of the areas that you see this the most. Teenage girls will sit at the lunch table and say they are "not hungry" or they "ate already." One of the most dangerous thing that the author brings up is the competition that girls have to be the thinnest. In "girls world" sometimes this competition is unstated, however in this case it really was a defined competition. The winner is the one who can be the skinniest. Unfortunately, the stakes that they are playing with are life or dead. This is very important that the discussion of eating disorders happens, even in the younger grades because it is a very big reality for a number of young adults. What needs to be emphasized, however are the struggles and challenges. I'm not sure how the book lays it out, but sometimes unintentionally, it gives teenagers tips. They look over the struggles and challenges and see the tremendous amount of weight loss and say "I'll stop before I get to that point."
Andra:
Anorexia is a life long battle that is difficult to overcome. It is similiar to alcholism in that it is something you will always have to work at. One of my very close friends was diagnosed with Anorexia when she was 16. I was only 17 and I didn't know a thing about Anorexia and I didn't even see the signs. She is 44 and she still struggles today.
Donna
Donna,
You are so right about anorexia being a life long battle. I also have a friend with anorexia. Unfortunately, she is in complete denial and refuses help. I'm honestly not sure she'll live to see 30 because it is so bad.
Thank you for your comments.
Andra
well done, andra--i very much enjoyed your review.
I highly recommend anything by Laurie Halse Anderson. Her most famous novel is speak, which is something of a mini classic already, but her more recent work is more interesting and edgy, I think. To learn more about her, go to
http://www.writerlady.com/
tp
Yes, she is a great writer. I have several students reading her books.
Andra - I love the idea of using a book like this in a health class. (Frankly, I love the idea of using any piece of young adult fiction in a health class, but that is another topic all together!) As we have talked about in this class before, literacy across the content areas is so important today! I remember that when I was in middle school and high school there would have been no way our health teacher would have assigned us a novel to read. And now, look at us... not only does this happen, but we have a college-level course in which we discuss its importance! This is just great!
This book sounds more geared towards females. Does the book address anorexia in boys also? Females are the majority of anorexics, but males have that issue too and cutting also.
I really enjoyed the video you attached about why the author of Wintergirls wrote the book. She explains that it was not hard for her to get in the mindset of the main character because of today’s society and her own struggle. Anorexia is a huge problem in our country and people forget that it is a problem that we as a society may have created.
I also thought that video was interesting. I like to know why authors write their books. It also makes the book more authentic. Even though it is fiction, I'm sure it is based on some of Anderson's real-life experiences and those of others. Thank you for your comment.
Hutting,
No this book does not address males and anorexia, but you are right that it is an issue and has become more and more prevalent recently. I think approximately 10% of anorexics are males-don't quote me on that. Since the book is about a female, it might be difficult for males to get into it. If I were to use this book in health, I would offer it as one choice out of several books.
Andra
Heather,
I also really like the idea of using a novel in health class. I have been trying very hard to come up with a list of appropriate, health-related novels so that I can start using them alongside my health class. Unfortunately, most that I have found are geared more toward high school students. If you have any suggestions, I would appreciate it!
Andra
I read this book as well and I think that all teenagers could benefit from reading it, I think adults would too. Lia's tale is chilling and even though it is fiction I think that the symptoms and links anorexics go through to hide their disease are so true.
This is such a series topic that I think does not get addressed as much as it should. It is always about drugs and booze that gets brought up. In conjuction with this book have any of you guys seen the movie, Thirteen? While it does not really address aneroixa it does address cutting. I do not know what it is rated, but could be brought up in a classroom for a visual sense, depending on the rating, because it gets pretty intense in some parts.
I had not seen Thirteen, but I have heard of it. I will have to check it out. I am always looking for ways to change up my health curriculum. I also agree that in health there is a lot of focus on drugs and alcohol and other serious issues like eating disorders get left out. It is an important issue to teach our students.
Wow, this book sounds so intense. Like others have stated, I would not make this a mandatory read for my students, but I would highly suggest it to the girls in my class for an independent read. It talks a lot about serious topics, but mostly harming your body, and the need for control. I feel like this book could be beneficial to middle and high school girls.
Post a Comment