Wintergirls

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls. Penguin Group Inc., 2009. 278 pages. ISBN 978067011100, ages 14 and up.
Lia and Cassie became best friends in elementary school-doing all the things best friends do-especially sharing secrets. The biggest secret between them-their eating disorders. Now at 18, Lia must deal with the guilt of Cassie’s death, parent’s that don’t understand, and the urge to be in control of her body. She counts the calories in everything that passes between her lips trying to keep her intake at just a few hundred calories a day. She also sneaks hours of exercise into the night to burn off the few calories that she does consume. She knows all the tricks of how to make her parents think she’s eating and how to hide the weight loss in her weekly weigh-ins. As she hits rock bottom, Cassie visits her mind to urge her into crossing over into death. “She speaks slowly. Your kidneys failed a couple of hours ago. Starvation plus dehydration plus exhaustion topped off with an almost-overdoes? Nice job, Lia-Lia. Nice job, indeed. Your lungs are filling. Just a few more minutes. Relax” (page 270.) Will Lia give up and end the pain or will she have the courage to fight back and survive?