Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Eating disorders are a huge concern in this day and age, and Laurie Halse Anderson took us deep inside the mental workings of Lia, a teen girl suffering from Anorexia. Not only is Lia dealing the her eating disorder, but she is also dealing with the typical split family, and even worse the suicide of her former best friend, Cassie, who also suffered from an eating disorder. The mental games Lia plays with herself to keep from eating, to fool her family into beleiving she has eaten, to fool everyone that she is "just fine" in dealing with Cassie's death is so mind blowing, it's unreal. I loved and hated this book all at the same time. Anderson does a fabulous job of getting us right there inside of Lia brain, so much so that I would get a headache when I read because of the disjointed thoughts. And at the exact same time there was no way I could stop reading. The point where Lia truly sees her body in the mirror...the discriptions that Anderson uses...physically made me ill. With all that being said, I would absolutely recommend this book, to a more mature 8th grader or high school student.