Paperweight
Meg Haston
Like Lia, Stevie is in treatment and carrying guilt over a death. The book captures the eating-disorder voice from inside with the same raw honesty and slow, hard-won movement toward recovery.
12 books to read next
Books Like Wintergirls
If you loved Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Readers come to Wintergirls for its unflinching, interior portrait of anorexia, told in Lia's fractured, poetic voice, complete with strikethroughs, repetitions and hallucinatory imagery. They value how honestly it shows the logic of an eating disorder, the toxic pull of a competitive friendship, grief and guilt over a lost friend, and a family that can't quite reach her. It is dark and claustrophobic but ultimately about the hard, unglamorous choice to live, and it treats teen readers as capable of handling difficult truths.
Honest stories of eating disorders
Wasted
Marya Hornbacher
An older-teen and adult memoir of anorexia and bulimia that shows the real-life version of Lia's mindset, written with sharp, literary intensity. Best for mature readers ready for nonfiction.
Hunger Point
Jillian Medoff
A sister's eating disorder and a family's breakdown give this a domestic angle that echoes the strained parents and stepfamily in Wintergirls, mixing darkness with wry observation.
Lyrical voices in crisis
Crank
Ellen Hopkins
Told in experimental verse, this story of addiction has the same fragmented, poetic interior voice that makes Lia's narration so gripping, and the same frank view of self-destruction.
Shatter Me
Tahereh Mafi
If the crossed-out lines in Wintergirls struck you, Juliette's strikethrough narration of isolation and self-hatred uses the device in a similar way, though inside a dystopian story.
We Were Liars
E. Lockhart
A haunted, unreliable narrator, fractured memory and spare, poetic prose make this a natural next read for fans of Lia's ghost-shadowed, dreamlike storytelling.
Grief, guilt and lost friends
Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher
Like Lia replaying Cassie's last calls, Clay is pulled through the aftermath of a girl's death and his own sense of guilt. Tense, emotional and focused on mental health.
I'll Give You the Sun
Jandy Nelson
Grief and a fractured relationship between two teens drive this vivid, imaginative novel, which shares Wintergirls' lush language while offering more warmth and light.
The Way I Used To Be
Amber Smith
A girl unravelling in silence after trauma, told across her high school years, will resonate with readers who connected to Lia's secrecy and self-punishment.
Paths toward recovery
Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
Anderson's earlier novel brings the same sharp, wounded voice to a girl silenced by trauma, and the same slow, believable journey toward finding her way back.
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Ned Vizzini
A teen's depression and psychiatric stay are handled with honesty but more humour, a gentler companion for readers who wanted more of Lia's recovery.
Girl in Pieces
Kathleen Glasgow
Charlie's self-harm and fight to rebuild her life are written with the same unsparing intimacy as Wintergirls, ending on hard-won, fragile hope.
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