Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson is the teen reader’s serious BFF.
The characters in her stories suffer through some of the worse things high school — and life – can throw at them: bullying, cutting, depression, sexual violence.
“I don’t think of it as teen angst,” she says. “I have such love and compassion for teenagers. I see my role as writing stories that can offer hope.”
Her new book, “Wintergirls” (Viking, 278 pages, $17.99) is about anorexia. When a  close friend dies of an eating disorder, 18-year-old Lia starts feeling more anxiety and pressure. She’s already spent time as an inpatient at a clinic for anorexics, but despite the therapy, she’s still obsessed with losing weight. When her weight drops under 100 pounds - and she starts cutting - she actually suffers hallucinations.
Anderson will be in St. Louis Monday (March 30). She will discuss and sign “Wintergirls” at 3:45 p.m. at Borders, 1519 South Brentwood Boulevard (314-918.8189). No doubt she’ll also be willing to sign her popular book “Speak,” which has a new 10th anniversary edition.
The writer talked Friday before a book event in Houston.

Q: This novel depicts the sick girl’s conscious and unconscious thoughts. How did you get inside an anorexic girl’s head?
A: I’ve never been anorexic myself. But like a lot of american women i’ve spent too many years critical of my own body. The book was a healing book to write because it helped me face some of my demons.

Q: What demons?
A: The feeling that I was not worthy. That I was fat. That I was stupid.

Q: Did you talk to girls who suffer from anorexia?
A: I talked to a physician first to make sure I got the physical deterioration right. I also talked to a psychiatrist who’d worked in a eating disorders clinic for 20 years.
Eating disorders are not about food. They are a mental illness that deserves a lot of compassion. I went to those Web sites (that encourage anorexia) that are so horrifying, and I spoke to girls in recovery.

Q: Do teen girls romanticize anorexia?
A: I think our culture romanticizes anorexia. Our culture glorifies fashion models who are thinner than 98 percent of women. Even then, sometimes images are manipulated to make them seem even thinner. We’re given an unattainable goal.
Some girls can diet without falling into illness. Others seem to have a genetic pre-disposition toward anorexia.

Q: We’ve been aware of the cultural obsession with thinness for some time. Do you think anything will change?
A: One company I would love to acknowledge that is making a difference is the Dove company. They have made a concerted effort to put healthy women of different shapes and sizes in their ads…
I hope that people who foment the images (of unrealistically thin women) can’t sleep at night.