Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

In a hotel room

Alone

And you didn't answer the phone...

These and other words keep crowing Lia's mind.

"::stupid/ugly/stupid/bitch/stupid/fat::

::stupid/baby/stupid/loser/stupid/lost::"

Her life is completely disconnected. Lia now lives with her father and his new wife Jennifer, as well as Jennifer's daughter Emma. Dr. Marrigan, her mother, was someone she couldn't take anymore. Not after the treatment she was put through. But with patience and lying and jumping through hoops, Lia was discharged, but she took along her secrets with her.

One thing Lia can't stop thinking about is how she caused the death of her best friend, Cassie. She sees her on her bed, in the store. Lia can hear her voice, and Cassie is telling her how easy it is to leave. And the scariest thing Lia hears? Cassie tells her she's nearly there....on the edge...ready to die...

But now Cassie is dead and Lia hides her pain in so many ways. She does it through quarters hidden in her bathrobe. She does it through mentally counting calories every time she takes a bite. She does it through cutting. But is it enough?

This is another riveting tale by Anderson that takes the reader into the physical and psychological trauma of Lia, who is battling anorexia. You see the psychology of Lia's mind through Anderson's writing techniques from analogies to corssed out word and word replacements to a blank page. You see Lia physically waste away and can only hope she doesn't run into the arms of her dead friend, who keeps calling her, but turns to those who are living, even though she can't trust them. With many books out there about anorexia and how teens deal with this problem, I consider this to be top-notched, not only because of Halse Anderson's strong writing and past reputation as a YA author, but also because of the complete and brutal truth she exposes.