Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is about Lia, a high school senior who is struggling with anorexia. Until 6 months ago, she and her best friend Cassie experienced their eating disorders together. Six months ago, however, Cassie broke off all contact with Lia, and today Cassie is dead. She died alone in a hotel room after going on a serious food and alcohol binge. That night, she tried to call Lia over 30 times... but Lia didn't answer. Now Lia is dealing with the grief of losing her former best friend, and feeling like it was her fault. Through all this, Lia's anorexia continues to worsen, to the point where her family doesn't know how to help her anymore. Lia's refusal to eat more than 500 calories each day is slowly killing her, but she can't stop.

This was a really good book. It was so sad to read about Lia's struggles with her emotions and her eating disorder. I felt sad for Lia and for her family, who were at a loss as to how to help her take care of herself. This book is definitely for more mature readers due to the nature of Lia's illness.

Skin by Adrienne Maria Vrettos

Skin by Adrienne Maria Vrettos is about 9th grader, Donnie, and his family. Donnie's older sister, Karen is anorexic and is ripping the family apart. Donnie begins to "disappear" as Karen takes up more and more space in his family's worries. Donnie is unpopular at school, and eventually makes it his goal to get through each school day with absolutely no contact with other people. He is mostly able to accomplish this goal. The friends he had have left him out so that he is eating lunch by himself at the end of the teacher table in the cafeteria. Karen gets worse and worse and ends up in a hospital twice.

This is one of the saddest books I've ever read. It is absolutely heartbreaking. I really liked the way the author made the story about the brother and his experience with his sister suffering from an eating disorder. Parts of this book were painful to read, but I believe it shows a true account of what an eating disorder can do to a family. This one is for more mature readers - there is some swearing and some adult content.