Wintergirls »

Laurie Halse Anderson grew up in Syracuse, New York, and now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two daughters. Her first novel, Speak, a Printz Honor and National Book Award finalist, is available on audio from Listening Library

“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 are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend's restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

The Washington Post - Nora Krug

Anderson…isn't a scaremonger or a schoolmarm. "I never set out to send messages," she has said. "I set out to tell a good story." In Wintergirls, she has done just that. Lia's tale is both painful to read and riveting. Unfortunately, many young women will relate to her despair, and if the novel helps them find solace or hope, all the better. Same goes for their parents.