Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson is the renown author of hard-hitting novels aimed at a young adult audience - something she has been criticised for greatly, especially with her first novel, Speak which was banned in some schools in America because of the way it was written and the fact it happened fictionally and in real life in American schools. I know some of the events in Speak happen in my own school.
I was a bit dubious about Wintergirls when I first picked it up in the library, but I'd seen good (and some bad) on the blogosphere and it's about a subject people wouldn't dare write a whole novel about: anorexia in teenage girls.
I'm glad I did.

Synopsis:  This novel follows senior year for Lia, a seventeen anorexic who also has to battle with the horrific death of her former best friend, Cassie who continuously haunts her and tells her how she isn't good enough - too ugly, too fat, too-everything. However, the death is slightly her fault, Cassie's last act was calling Lia 33 times before dying alone in an empty motel room of shock. Lia feels stronger and stronger, the lighter she becomes and feels more in control of her life with her difficult mother, father and step-mother. Maybe she can make herself disappear altogether.


Review: Laurie Halse Anderson, for me, has done it again. She's made this terrible, disturbing tale into an emotional, heart breaking novel for young adults. Now, I'm not saying it's a perfect book, there are some flaws but it's a pretty good book for what Anderson has to do: show what it is like to be anorexic without scaring kids. For me, she's done it.

My dubious-ness continued from the first page, it DOES take a couple of chapters to get into it and get used to Anderson's writing style and Lia's voice. Actually, at the start, I was close to stopping and not even continuing. However, something made me continue and I'm glad that I did because it did get better as it went on. It's not the type of book that catches your attention straight away but lets you gently get into it until delivering the shocking killer punches.
I've read some reviews of people being annoyed by the crossing outs that run throughout the book. To be honest, I liked them. They showed the real Lia and showed how there is conflict between her real self and the anorexia side of her. They weren't so frequent to be annoying personally and they only cropped up in big serious situations.

The story is sad, let's face it, but for me, it's not tears-running-down-your-cheeks sad. Although, it does make you think about what it would be like to be anorexic, it really does show you the mentality of one and why they do it - something that they are also criticised about as people just don't understand why a young girl would do that sort of thing...well, here you are. Read this and find out why.
I could even say that I too started behaving slightly like an anorexic. I am pretty thin, I admit. I don't put on much weight and I am only a size 12 because I'm tall and lanky. I have also been called anorexic numerous times, especially when I started secondary school. Actually, one of my friends now, when I first met him five years ago, whenever he saw me he would call me the name until I told him to shut up and hit him (on the arm in a kind of 'I'm-not-joking-but-this-punch-is-not-going-to-hurt' kind of way). He stopped after that. But still, it's not a nice thing to be called that at all. This week, I started worrying more about the way I look, what I'm wearing, what I'm eating, do I look bloated. I have no utter idea why. I can only think I'm doing it because of the book.

Now, I'm not saying this book turns you into a self-conscience freak for a week but it does make you think a little like her and get into her head a little.
   What I also liked was the way Cassie was there throughout...but then not. You never find out if Lia is dreaming or actually serious, although Cassie is a little bit creepy. The word wintergirls is referred to in the book and from what I can tell, it means like really thin girls. This theme of winter is also used really cleverly.

Overall, apart from some flaws and being an sort of anorexic for a week, I enjoyed this book completely. For me, it was better than Speak although it is slightly hard to compare when they are such different books. I loved the ending for this book and just reading about Lia and finding out more and understanding more about anorexia. This is one I would recommend for older readers and for ones that don't mind this kind of subject and Lia's obsessive voice on what she looks like and, especially, eats.
I take my hat off to Laurie Halse Anderson for this book.

I give it 4 out of 5

Author's Website: http://madwomanintheforest.com/
Pages: 278
Publisher: Scholastic
Challenges: None
Related Posts: Review on Speak

Speak - The Movie

Starring: Kristen Stewart (Twilight), Michael Angarano (The Forbidden Kingdom), Hallee Hirsh (ER), Eric Lively (The Butterfly Effect)
Made in 2004 by Speak Film Inc (US)
Filmed in Ohio, USA
Directed by Jessica Sharzer
Based on a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson

After being told on Twitter and by Nessie on the comments section, that there was a movie of the book I recently reviewed by Laurie Halse Anderson  (click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about) called Speak.
So...I found it on YouTube and spend the next hour and a half watching it in the quiet of my lovely home instead of probably doing revision. But oh well. I enjoyed myself and I'm starting serious on that next week (little warning for you guys there)

Anyway, this movie is well done. Speak is I think one of the novels that you can only see as a book and I was surprised to hear that there was a movie version of it. Unfortunately, the actress playing Melina, the main character was Kristen Stewart. Yes, Twilight fans. Bella. I'll give her credit though as she was only 13 when she did the movie: Melina's age and this movie became the only film that she was critised about (until Twilight wandered along but you know). To be honest, I am a Twilight hater so I am probably being bias.

But, with the benefit of the doubt, she did do well even though she had few lines. We knew what she was thinking through her expressions, body language and the overhead voice as if inside her mind. It worked.

The actress playing Heather and Rachael were as I imagined them, especially Heather who gave the movie some humour to a very depressing scenerio. The filming was good and I liked how it hadn't been changed mostly and it stayed true to the book version. It made me have a clearer understanding of what happened in the book with it being on screen.

The only thing (apart from Kristen Stewart) that I'm disappointed in is the ending. It could have been better and with the dark lighting, I didn't see some of what was happening because of it. All in all, the movie was well done and worth that hour and a half is you enjoyed this book.

A reminder of the guest post I'm in over on Nessie's blog about British music. I will one day have a guest post...when I have a little bit more time than at the moment. Check it out. It's great and makes me feel like a true blogger now. :)

Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

I read this book a couple of years ago; I was probably about 12/13. I had bought this book when it was on sale and I liked the sound of it. At the time, I didn't like it - I didn't understand most of the words in it and what was happening and felt rather disappointed. That is why I was apprehensive about reading it again and not liking it - again.
I think as a 12/13 year old -  I just didn't understand what was happening and that things like this do happen.
This is my review of it but also a bit of context to those that aren't in secondary school/high school now.

Synopsis: Melina has started high school on an all time low. Her best friends don't want to know her. Everyone hates her for something she did because she was scared over the summer. She has no-one, even she can't talk to her parents without a fight happening as they are on the verge of separation. Why?
Over the summer, Melina called the police at an illegal party where there was alcohol because she got raped by a Senior. A Senior that won't let her forget and it making her mute. This novel follows Melina over her first year of high school which can make or break you and how she overcomes and tries desparately to beat her silence.


Review: If you read this, not knowing at all what high school/secondary school is like, you will probably think Laurie Halse Anderson is exaggerating her descriptions just to get a good story. Although, she maybe in some parts, me, the sixteen year old and in my last year at secondary school after some 5 years there, think it's pretty accurate.

She is successfully made Melina sound and behave like someone her age (14) would. She is such a beautifully written character with an interesting voice. There are some laugh-out-loud moments in this book at the hilarious descriptions of her teachers e.g. her Spanish teacher's wild hand actions after stating she will not speak English in class for the entire year (which fails in about a lesson). And then, Melina's sarcasm which I must admit, sounds a lot like the kind I use. However, there are parts which you will find sad and really feel for Melina.

I just want to write a bit about how it relates, I think it's important. Over my 5 years at my secondary school/high school, I have had 5 friendship groups (about one per year) and had arguments with the majority of them, I have been 'popular' (that's a term I use loosely) for about a year in my first year there before I had an argument with them for being 'different'. I have been called 'anorexic' countless of times because of my height, high metabolism and how thin I am (which I hate sometimes). I've been called 'langy', 'too perfect', 'a bitch', 'ugly' and a 'neek' (too clever basically). So I kinda understand the whole name calling thing in the book. Although, some of those are very 'rude' words to call someone, at school, you can't take offence to them, otherwise you'd probably be called something else. Sure, at home, I could cry and be affected by it to my heart's content but at school, in public, just talking across the playground or talking to a guy would make people notice you. It doesn't happen so much now because we all know each other but I see Facebook statuses from the younger years and girls crying in corridors all because they are known as a slut or slag. To be honest, take it in your stride.
Like the other day, I was walking along calmly, stopped to talk to my friend and then a girl in the year below elbowed through and then turned to me and said 'Oh my god, get out the way you fat idiot' and then walked off. I laughed. Nice of her, don't you think? I would go on but I don't want you to get bored.

Anyway, the novel really does show a pretty accurate image of high school/secondary school. The characters are well written and all completely different and are the sterotypical types of cliques you see in a school. This is so worth a read, even if in some places it is banned (for some unknown reason) in some places. I think it's because it's such a head on view of rape and bullying instead of kind of scooting around the main details to make it okay for teenagers to read. I'm sorry but if you read about rape and sex in a negative way, that means you're going to do it? Sure...
Have a look for more of her stuff...this book is definitely worth all the hype you see about it.

I give it a 4 out of 5

Author's Website: http://madwomanintheforest.com/
Pages: 230
Publisher: Hodder
Challenges: None