skip navigation links

Readers > Talk it Up! > Discussion guides > 2012 Oregon Reader's Choice Award Nominees > Wintergirls

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Discussion guide by Susan Smallsreed

Summary

"Dead girl walking," the boys say in the halls. "Tell us your secret," the girls whisper, one toilet to another. Lia and Cassie are those. They 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.

Booktalk

What is it like to be a wintergirl, caught between two worlds, frozen in the shadows of your mind, a ghost with a beating heart? It’s terrifying. It’s exhausting. It’s a rush. Your head tells you one thing-- stupid ugly/stupid baby/stupid fat. . . and your body betrays you-- doze off, space out, can’t sleep, sleep too much, talk too little, see things in your peripheral vision, mutter, and most importantly, don’t eat. Or in Cassie’s case, must puke. Eat, puke. Eat, puke. Eat, puke.

But it’s never enough, never ever enough. So you start cutting, opening your veins. Or you end up in rehab with tubes up your nose getting stuffed like a sausage and rolled back out. Or, you check out like Cassie did. This is the life of a wintergirl.

Cassie called Lia 33 times before she died in a motel room, all alone, near the toilet. Her esophagus ruptured. She died in pain. Lia’s still alive, still a wintergirl, still a toothpick with a pulse and seeing Cassie all the time, calling out to her, "Lia, Lia, Lia, aren’t you proud of me for figuring this out? You win, Lia. You win! Come join me now. You win."

Yes, Lia lost her old best friend, Cassie, but they hadn’t spoken in months. Lia didn’t rob a bank or get arrested or overdose on drugs. What is wrong with her? What is her deal? What will it take for her to make it?

Booktalk by Mercedes Hubbard & Susan Smallsreed

278 pages, 9th grade and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. What do the crossed-out words and phrases reveal about Lia? Why can’t she allow herself to say or think some things? What is she afraid will happen if she does?
  2. Does Lia want to lose weight so she will look thin and pretty? What does her thinness mean to her? How does she think it gives her power?
  3. What is friendship? Describe the important elements of Lia and Cassie’s relationship. Are they really friends?
  4. Lia says, "I pretend to be a fat, healthy teenager. They pretend to be my parents." What does this say about Lia’s feelings for her parents? Why does Lia feel she and others must pretend?
  5. What does Lia think makes her strong? What do you think are Lia’s strengths? How does Lia’s perception of strength change toward the end of the story?
  6. When Lia first meets Elijah, she lies about her identity. What is Elijah able to give Lia that other people in her life cannot? What do you think about the way their relationship ends?
  7. Why do you think Lia and Cassie took their eighth grade New Year’s resolutions so seriously? How do these promises play into the rest of the story?
  8. Lia’s dad says to her: "I wish I understood what goes on inside you . . . why you’re so afraid." Is fear part of Lia’s problem? What is she afraid of?
  9. What is Lia’s thinness communicating to her parents? What is her body saying that her voice cannot?
  10. What ultimately changes for Lia by the end of the story? Why does she survive when Cassie did not?

If you liked this book, try