Viking

Laurie Halse Anderson's lesson-filled "Wintergirls." Anderson approaches the big teen issues with more eloquence and aplomb than the ham-fisted "Afterschool Specials" that I remember sitting through in health class. Her New York Times best seller "Speak" was a National Book Award finalist in 1999 and this newest, released in March, is in the same "Let's All Learn a Big, Important Lesson" vein, this time about eating disorders.

It may not sound like a barrel of laughs, but "Wintergirls" is very well-written and moving "? even for someone who has had a long and loving relationship with cheese in its many glorious forms.

"?Jenny Coon Peterson

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