Wintergirls

Wintergirls is a young-adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson published in 2009 by Penguin Books. Wintergirls is the winner of the 2010 Milwaukee County Teen Book Award and has received several other award nominations. Wintergirls follows the mental health journey of Lia Overbrook as she attempts recovery from anorexia, depression, and other mental health issues. Lia spends the weeks during Thanksgiving and Christmas struggling to gain closure over her former best friend Cassie’s death. Lia feels guilty for Cassie’s death, because Cassie called Lia several times the nights leading to her death. Amid her own mental health issues, Lia hallucinates and believes she sees Cassie’s ghost. It isn’t until she almost passes away herself from her own eating disorder and meets Cassie in “the middle” that she realizes her will to live and to see her own future.

This book contains content pertaining to the eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia, self-harm, mental health, and suicide. This study guide refers to the Penguin Books 2010 paperback reprint edition.

Plot Summary

Wintergirls follows Lia Overbrook, a high school senior living with her father, stepmother, Jennifer, and stepsister, Emma. At the beginning of the novel, Lia discovers that her former best friend, Cassie, died alone in a motel room over the weekend. Lia and Cassie were childhood best friends but hadn’t spoken in months. The night of Cassie’s death, Cassie called Lia’s cell phone several times, but because they weren’t speaking, Lia never picked up.

Lia suffers from anorexia, an eating disorder where she limits her eating, monitors her weight and calorie count, and exercises in secret at night. Lia also self-harms. Lia has been in and out of recovery hospitals twice. Cassie also suffered from bulimia, an eating disorder that involved bingeing and purging. In eighth grade, Lia and Cassie swore an oath to be the skinniest girls in their school. Because of this, they often encouraged each other’s eating disorders.

After her death, Cassie begins appearing to Lia at night. Lia struggles to get closure over Cassie’s death. Lia attends Cassie’s wake and funeral, hoping this will give her some closure, but Cassie continues to haunt Lia. Meanwhile, Lia’s mother worries that Lia’s eating disorder is worsening. Lia’s mother wants Lia to move back in with her, but Lia insists on continuing to live with her father, Jennifer, and Emma. While staying with her mother the night after the funeral, Lia’s mother agrees to tell Lia the cause of Cassie’s death on the condition that she eat some food. Her mother tells her that Cassie spent two days alone at the motel drinking vodka, bingeing, and purging. Cassie’s death was due to her esophagus rupturing, directly linked to the years she spent drinking and purging and the effect this had on her body.

Lia’s worsening mental health, eating disorder, and grief ultimately culminate in a suicide attempt. Lia cuts herself down her chest with a knife and passes out. Emma discovers Lia in the bathroom, covered in blood. Lia is taken to the hospital, and, once she is stable, taken to live with her mother until she can be re-admitted as an inpatient to the clinic for patients with eating disorders. At her therapist’s office, Lia admits that she has been seeing Cassie haunting her, insisting the apparitions are real. Lia’s therapist suggests Lia might need to stay at a psychiatric-care ward. This possibility scares and angers Lia and she runs off to the same motel where Cassie died. Lia hides in the hotel room, sleeping and contemplating suicide, for a few days. Eventually, Lia decides she wants to live, and calls her mother. Lia is taken back to the hospital and re-admitted to the clinic for patients with eating disorders. This time, Lia starts making progress toward recovery.