Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, Laurie Halse. (2009). Wintergirls. NY: Viking Juvenile.
ISBN: 978-0670011100
Awards: ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2010)
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2010)
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Bulimia, Anorexia, Eating Disorder, Cutting, Death, Grief, Friendship, Family
Genre: Fiction
Annotation: Lia is wasting away; a Wintergirl, with frozen matchstick bones. Her best friend Cassie's ghost is haunting her, and her parents don't understand. Can Lia find the strength to eat and make herself seen?
Summary: Lia has been in a facility because she is anorexic, but is now living with her professor father, step-mother, and half-sister Emma. Her family tries to "manage" Lia's sickness, but fails to notice the truth behind the symptoms. Lia continues to fool her family into thinking she is eating and gaining weight, but really is falling deeper into her illness. To top this off, her once best friend, Cassie, is found dead in a hotel room. Cassie and Lia had been friends since elementary school and competed in a race to thinness; Cassie with bulimia and Lia with anorexia. They have a falling out where Cassie blames Lia for her illness. After six months of not talking Lia gets 33 calls from Cassie in one night, the night Cassie dies. She ignores them. Lia's guilt takes the form of Cassie's ghost haunting her. Through this Lia gets worse, is kicked out of her dad's house and finally ends up in a hospital. Here she realizes that she does want to face her problems and live, but she also knows that it will not be easy.
Evaluation: I thought Lia's story was fascinating. I really liked how we were in Lia's head, hearing her count calories, berate herself, and fixate on her weight. I think Anderson did a great job of portraying a young woman's journey from 93lbs. to deciding to live in a healthy way.

Cut by Patricia McCormick

McCormick, Patricia. (2002). Cut. NY: Push.
ISBN: 978-0439324595
Awards: South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee (2002-2003)
Isinglass Teen Reads Award Winner (2004)
Gateway Book List (2002-2003)
Arizona Young Readers' Award Nominee (2005)ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2002)
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers - Top Ten (2001)
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2001)
Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee (2005)
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Cutting, Easting Disorders, Mental Illness, Family, Depression, Self-Acceptance
Genre: Fiction
Annotation: Fifteen year old Callie is in a mental hospital because she self-mutilates and refuses to speak. While we get to hear Callie's inner dialog, she fights the therapists attempts to help her.
Summary: The story begins with fifteen year old Callie in Sea Pines mental hospital with a group of other girls. Among eating disorders, substance abuse, and other cutters, Callie keeps silent. Through her inner dialog, readers slowly learn about Callie's severely asthmatic brother, a fearful mother, and an absent drunk father. Day after day, Callie sits through individual and group therapy silently observing the other girls, but saying nothing. Finally, after being threatened with being sent home as a lost cause, Callie starts speaking to her therapist. With her therapist, Callie comes to realize that she is not the cause of her family's dysfunction.
Evaluation: I picked this book to read because I don't know very much about people who self-mutilate, but understand that it is a fairly common way some choose to express inner turmoil. Keeping that in mind, I enjoyed Callie's progression from silent and ill, to wanting to get better. I also liked the other girls whose stories were equally as moving and disturbing, if not as developed as Callie's.