Wild Girls by Pat Murphy - I am still thinking about this book. It was pretty good
I will put it on my course reading list- best for ages 11-14
This book will appeal to girls who are a bit introspective and who like to read and write themselves, as the two characters join a summer writing class at UCLA.
have finished Wintergirls by L Halse Anderson. This was a fascinating book - topic best for ages 14- 20.
The main character a female is suffering from dysmorphia ( is that right - distorted body image?)
It is written in the first person and has elements of fantasy and horror - she is suffering - her mother and father have split and her best friend has died tragically . Her desire is too be so thin that she disappears. She is also haunted by the ghost of her dead friend .
If you are interested in anorexia, this is a book you should read. The author has done research into the disease and has essentially written a case study , convincing us of the terrible consequences of such an affliction. The book ends with the character trying to recover- do you think anyone can really recover? Would this be a good choice for an anorexic? Will I use this book ? not sure yet ?Update a student has chosen the book
2 comments:
I have just finished reading Wintergirls, I read this in one day and found it to be a great book. Halse has captured a really strong image of what anorexia is and writes as if she is inside the head of an anorexic. As a recovered anorexic I do not think that I would advise an anorexic reading this book unless he or she was in the final stages of recovery. When anorexics are severe and trying anything to lose more weight etc.. they could capture some ideas as to how to fake weight gain and hide food etc...
Overall, I think that due to the content and the fact that so many teens are affected by eating disorders and distorted body image I would recommend this book for students at the highschool level. It would also be great for a health course or a few lessons on eating disorder awareness etc...This is a great book for parents to read who have an anorexic child because it really does explain the inside your head battle that so many people do not understand unless they have experienced it, I think this would help parents see that their child really is controlled by the disorder and not the other way around.
After having read Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, I don't think that I would teach it in my classes. While it was a very good read, interestingly written and grippingly sad, in a classroom setting, it has a flaw of being too real. There isn't a North American girl between the ages of 14 and 20 who doesn't have some kind of body issue. As someone who in high school used to look in the mirror and think "stupid/ugly/fat", this book would have reaffirmed by worst images about myself. 200+ pages that repeatedly say that empty=strong and thin=beautiful, regardless of the serious commentary that they are really saying, would be negatively impactful on the young girl or boy who is struggling with their weight.
I would consider recommending this book for students at an older age level who were looking for a book on eating disorders (or even if it were a very stable, mature student looking for a good read). I would also consider suggesting this book to the family of a child with an eating disorder because it does such a good job of getting inside the head of someone with body dysmorphic disorder. But for the general student population, I think this book could be too controversial.
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