The New York Times bestselling story of a friendship frozen between life and death
Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffers the ultimate loss-her life-and Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend's memory and racked with guilt for not being able to help save her. In her most powerfully moving novel since Speak, award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's struggle, her painful path to recovery, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the most important thing of all-hope.
Although anorexia, bulimia, and cutting are major issues in Laurie Halse Anderson's most haunting novel since SPEAK, they are rarely named. More powerfully, readers are steeped in the slowly unraveling mind of Lia, who is intent on cutting and starving herself out of existence. After Cassie, Lia's childhood best friend commits suicide in a motel room, just days after trying to call her 33 times, Lia retreats into herself more than ever. Stunning, lyrical writing and an understanding of the capacity teen girls have for self hatred showcase Anderson at her best. Hints of dark fairy tales, Persephone, and ghosts permeate this young adult masterwork. Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Children's Books of 2009.
- Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Fiction + Literature Themes
- Subgenre: Social Issues / Adolescence, General, Social Issues / Death + Dying, Psychology, Social Issues / Depression + Mental Illness
- Age: Teen
- Publisher: Speak
- Pages: 278
- Edition: Reprint
- Language: English
- Format: paperback
- Release Date: February 23, 2010
- Date Published: February 23, 2010
- Author: Laurie Halse Anderson