Numero Uno

So, my mum has been bugging me to start this blog for a while, and I'm finally doing it. I am an avid reader, blessed with a librarian-mommy who keeps me well updated with all the best teen books. My hope in the coming months is to share as many books as I can with you, in hopes of either warning you against the bad ones, or encouraging people to not only read them, but possibly talk to your kid/parent about them. With that in mind, my first review is of Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson:

Most people know Miss Anderson from her first hit teen novel, Speak. For those who loved the book, Wintergirls won't disappoint. After her best friend, Cassie, dies alone in a hotel room after years of self-destruction, Lia is faced with the brutality of her own eating disorder. Anorexic post-divorce, Lia spends the time she would have spent eating obsessing over sabotaging her well-meaning stepmother's bathroom scale and telling herself that not eating makes her stronger, no matter how good those french-fries smell.

Spanning the weeks between Cassie's death and her funeral, Wintergirls is as poignant as any book I've ever read: Miss Anderson's way with words is so moving, I've got several of her phrases taped to my wall (I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through). This book is not for young kids: high school students should be okay, but every parent/student knows themselves better than me. I think that the self-destruction in the novel made me infintessimanally more greatful that I have parents who love me and I don't need to starve myself to experience control, but I tend to the mature aspect.

So, the 30-second review is...- Read this, please please please, but don't go in blind. It's scary and uncomfortable and makes you feel like your standing on the edge of a cliff, but it also made me appreciate my gifts. Laurie Halse Anderson is a god with words, and any of her novels are worth is solely for the style, in my opinion (historical fiction lovers: Chains is another FABULOUS read about a young slave girl at the beginning of the Revolutionary War). Wintergirls is a conversation starter, and some seriosly provocative ideas.


I hope someone benefits from this review, and I'll post again shortly (I'm 3/4 done with another great book!). Thanks for reading!!!