Rewind & Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Published: March 19, 2009 by Viking Juvenille
Received: bought ebook via Barnes & Noble

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other people's lives. Her father is away on business. Her step-mother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way—thin, thinner, thinnest—maybe she'll disappear altogether.
In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the National Book Award finalist Speak, best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson explores one girl's chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex of anorexia. {goodreads.com}

This is my third novel by Laurie Halse Anderson that I have read and she's done it again, completely shocked and blown me away.  This woman's ability to write is like nothing else.  She has the ability to take a character's voice, make it their own, and really project it through the pages at you.  I found myself completely engulfed by the desperate, yet hauntingly sour thoughts of Lia - the dead girl walking.

Wintergirls battles the issue of anorexia.  It digs deep to the dirty side of this retched disease, giving the reader a glimpse of what it's like to be dying, starving yourself from the inside out.  Lia's best friend Cassie has just died.  The two girls grew up together, with a bond to always be skinny.  They shared their disease together and encouraged one another to do whatever it took to stay strong and lose the pounds.  The scale was their enemy and they'd do whatever was necessary to never let it win.  Cassie, unfortunately, lost that battle and let her life go.  Lia is now living (or dying inside) with the thought that she could have saved her best friend, but how can she when she can't even save herself?  We're witnessing Lia's downward spiral through her own eyes.  Listening to the lies she tells herself, the calories she counts, and the hearts she shatters as she slowly slips further and further in to this abyss of what a wintergirl truly means.

I had a hard time reading this novel in parts because I could not identify with Lia or her need to control what she ate.  This sort of lifestyle is very foreign to me; however, it's shockingly a very common lifestyle among many teenage girls.  Though the issue of anorexia is something I have never personally dealt with, Laurie Halse Anderson does an amazingly well job of making you feel as though you know Lia and want to do everything in your power to reach out and help her.  In the soft moments, between the pages, when she was lying awake at night while the world slept was when I wanted to be her friend most.  My heart ached as I witnessed Lia breaking her's into tiny shreds.

Reading this book was very eye opening to me.  It brought forth a disease I had always heard about, but never truly understood.  It's not just about controlling what you eat, it's having the power to control every aspect of your life.  This need can consume someone's world and all those in it.  The story of Lia is a tough one to swallow, but it's also a gift that sheds light on the dangers of what can happen in this situation.  Some times, even the weakest can surprise us and find hope.

Rewind & Review is a monthly feature hosted by Lisa is Busy Nerding & myself, that showcases older books from our collection to read & review.

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background—average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn’t believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father’s boss’s daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy—and Tyler’s secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world. 
{taken from goodreads.com}




The author, Laurie Halse Anderson, has pulled off another superb job writing about deep issues that plague the lives of not just today's teenagers, but teenagers from yesterday and tomorrow.  Everyone can relate to this story.  The main character, Tyler, is a high school student trying to find his place in this world.  His past of being beaten up & picked on by his peers in middle school has numbed him through out his high school years.  He wants to be noticed, and not just for his geeky ways.  After leaving graffiti on school property, he is now viewed as the "bad boy" by his peers.  Even his parents are confused as to where this behavior has come from.  Tyler seems to be confused as well.  At first his character enjoys being in the spotlight for a change, even if it's for the wrong reasons.  His high school crush has taken interest in him & he soon finds himself in way over his head.  Tyler realizes that he is still the same person being bullied by his peers.  Nothing has changed at all.


As the story continues, we see Tyler unraveling at the seams. He is accused of doing something illegal at a high school party, but because he already has a rap sheet it's easy for everyone to put the blame on him.  Tyler won't admit to doing something he did not do, but he soon feels like it's easier for everyone (including himself) to act as the loser that everyone has portrayed him to be.  This story takes on a new meaning as we watch Tyler beat himself up mentally & emotionally.  His father adds to the pressure & the abuse as well.  We begin to wonder just how much Tyler can take.  Would it just be easier for everyone if he were to disappear? Should he catch a train & head out of town? or pull the trigger & end it all?  


Twisted goes inside the mind of an adolescent boy who has been dealt a bad hand.  Tyler has two choices, he can become what everyone is saying about him and be the waste of life he thinks he is, or rise above it and be the man he is capable of being.  I enjoyed this story because Tyler's perspective on things are real.  He doesn't sugar coat the realities of being a teenage boy.  You can feel his pain from constantly being picked on, but you can also feel his shame in hiding it... even from himself.  I found myself rooting for Tyler and wanting him to pick the better option for himself.  This was a good story, with a realistic ending.  Not everything in life is wrapped up in a nice pretty bow, it may have loose ends.. and be a bit twisted.  But ultimately we have the power over our own lives & we can make choices for ourselves.  So which path will it be?

♥ginger

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. The triumphant ending, in which Melinda finds her voice, is cause for cheering (while many readers might also shed a tear or two). After reading Speak, it will be hard for any teen to look at the class scapegoat again without a measure of compassion and understanding for that person--who may be screaming beneath the silence.
{taken from goodreads.com}

I may be 10 years late on reading this book, but I'm so glad I finally did!  It's come across my book suggestions many times & a few friends had recommended it to me as well.  But it wasn't until I read an article by Wesley Scroggins, where he stated that Speak should be banned from schools due to it's pornographic nature expressed through the book's rape scenes.  I'm sorry, what?!  What sicko thinks rape is something to be classified as sexually exciting?  (to read the article in further detail, click here.)  I assumed I would be against his allegations, but I wanted to read the book for myself and form my own opinion.  My assumptions were correct.

Laurie Halse Anderson does a superb job of taking you inside the mind of a battered teenage girl's mind who has been left out to dry.  The story of Melinda begins on her first day of high school and already you can feel her heavily guarded, empty soul that has somehow been taken from her with out her permission.  As the story unfolds we see that Melinda is alone in her world.  Her parents are too busy with work & their own lives that they miss their own daughter falling rapidly in to a deep, dark hole that she may never find herself out of again.  Melinda has no friends.  They all assume she is terrible for busting their end of summer party and shun her for what she's done.  But do they even stop to ask why she called the cops?  What terrified Melinda so badly to make such a serious phone call?  No one asks any questions.  Everyone just continues to walk all over Melinda and treat her as the dirt beneath their shoes.  This pushes her further down in to that deep hole.  As the story continues Melinda teaches herself it's easier to stay quiet, than to say anything aloud.  Finding a voice only brings fear.  She can never speak about what happened that night.  She chooses to ignore it, in hopes it will all just go away.


But it never goes away.  It only boils just under the surface until it's too hot, and all the pain & shame is too much for her to carry anymore in silence.  This book is about finding your voice.  It teaches young girls that it is NEVER ok to accept someone hurting you, someone raping you. No one has the right to your body without your permission.  This story also sends the message to parents, teachers, and other adults of the signs to look for when a child is pulling away.  Always ask questions and never assume they are just "fine".  Because you never know what is happening behind that guard they are so heavily protecting themselves with.  


In regards to the statement made by Scroggins in the earlier article, I believe this book belongs in high schools everywhere.  I wish there were more books written like this.  It gives the honest truth to what can happen, what unfortunately does happen.  It then gives the message that speaking up about it is the only way to get through it.  I can't imagine how many lives this story has touched & helped through some very dark days.  I give a lot of credit to Laurie Halse Anderson for creating something beyond just literature, and helping those who can't speak find their voice once again.

♥ginger