Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Nineteen-year-old Cassandra (Cassie) Parrish is dead in a motel room in New Hampshire. Before she died, she called her best friend, Emma (a struggling bulimic), begging Emma to pick up. After leaving Emma thirty-three messages, she suddenly died. Now, Emma is being visited by the "ghost" of Cassie. Emma once again turns to bulimia to try to cope with the situation. This life-altering decision will send her down a path to destruction, with the ghost of Cassie leading the reigns.

Though the book was interesting in some parts, I thought that it was hard to understand. The way that the author wrote some of the paragraphs was somewhat hard to comprehend; the narrator would say something, then cross out the idea and re-write it. Once I decoded what the author was trying to portray, I thought that the idea was interesting and that the writing was written exactly like people think. Personally, I thought that the topic of the novel was very realistic. The whole concept of Emma fighting an inner battles (her vs. her weight and her vs. the guilt of not picking up the phone when Cassie called) and the battle with her best friend (Cassie vs. Emma) was heart-wrenching. I would suggest this book to anyone who enjoys reading a story about coming-of-age and likes reading about overcoming obstacles.

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and Country: Pottstown, PA United States