Allison's+Book+Rationale

**Book Rationale:**
**//Wintergirls// by Laurie Halse Anderson**  Anderson's young adult fiction novel //Wintergirls// is an excellent example of a story that describes the challenges brought upon by adolescence. Through her unstable narrator, Lia, Anderson enables her readers to encounter the inevitable realities brought upon by divorce, anorexia, bulimia, self-hatred, and cutting. Even though many would describe this book to be disturbing and emotionally difficult to read, I, as a future educator, believe that this novel provides adolescence and parents with a deeper understanding as to what it is like to be in utter need of help.  Initially, I have found that this novel provides students with a clear example as to what it is like to have an unstable narrator. Throughout the text, Lia's character presents internal monologues and hallucinations, which create a confusing and misguided story. From her fragile state of mind, Anderson's audience is given the opportunity to critically analyze Lia's side of the story. Time and time again, her actions are questioned and examined by all who are reading.  Aside from writing about deep emotional issues, Anderson's novel also gives students an opportunity to critically examine an example of creative writing. For instance, Lia's hallucinations and internal monologues provides readers with many examples of figurative language, some of which including the use of metaphors, similes, and personification. Through these examples, students are better able to understand Lia's instability and dependence on others.  Even though this novel may be very useful in the classroom, I would highly recommend only teaching it to juniors or seniors in high school. Due to the book's heavy and dark themes, its content would not be suitable for a middle school, freshman, or sophomore-aged classroom. I would also advise parents to sit down and talk about some of the presented issues with their son or daughter. Divorce, anorexia, bulimia, self-hatred, and cutting are all realities that many children have to endure, but that isn't to say that all students have had personal experience with them. One would assume that all students, by junior year of high school, would have had previous lessons classes that covered these health issues. That isn't to say, however, that students could benefit from a parental discussion about these emotional issues.