Winter Girls
By- Laurie Halse Anderson
Summary
Lia is best friends with a girl named Cassie. Cassie and Lia have a contest to see who can be the skinniest but then things spiral out of control and Cassie is found dead in a motel room. Lia is faced with the guilt of Cassie's death so Lia tries to lose even more weight. Cassie's ghost comes out to haunt Lia telling her she is fat and ugly so this makes Lia feel terrible so she eats less and exercises more. Lia goes too far and ends up in the hospital where she realizes she wants to live and get better.
Character Analysis
In the novel Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, the protagonist of the story is Lia, Lia is faced with many conflicts throughout the story.The first conflict is Lia is faced with the guilt of her best friend Cassie's death.. Lia sometimes blames herself because Cassie called her 33 times and Lia didn't answer and then Cassie was found dead in a motel room. Another conflict that Lia faces is the haunting of Cassie's ghost. After Cassie's death her ghost torments her about how ugly and fat Lia is, meanwhile she is about 95 pounds. This makes lia feel terrible about herself so she just tries to lose more weight and she starts cutting herself. Lia takes things too far and lands up in the hospital. Those are the conflicts that Lia faces.
Plot
The author uses literary elements to make a claim about how it advances the plot of the story. For example, characterization advances the plot because by the way Lia acts, all her actions advance the plot of the story. Another literary element that helps advance the plot of the story is , setting. The setting shows where Lia is living and it puts a picture in our minds of what is going on and it shows us Lias feelings, that she is depressed, angry, not happy, and she feels worthless. Those are the elements that advance the plot.
Critique
I would highly recommend this novel to others. This novel is a little bit of a tricky read, so therefore i would recommend it to anyone above the age of 14. Wintergirls sends out a good message and it is a compelling and sorrowful novel. I would give this book 4 stars, and would recommend it.