What is the resolution in Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson?

The original question had to be edited down.  I invite you to resubmit the different parts as individual questions.  I think that the resolution in Anderson's work is one of acceptance.  Lia recognizes that her own self- perception is causing irrevocable hurt and pain to her own being. She understands that the self- destructive pattern in which her cutting and starvation is leading her.  It is one that compels Lia to accept that she needs help.   The work resolves with Lia understanding that she gains nothing from emulating Cassie's own self- destructive devolution.  Lia understands that the road to wellness is a challenging one.  Yet, in making the commitment to walk it, she has already moved past where Cassie could never reach.  Lia reaches out for help before it is too late.  In this, she demonstrates herself to be different than Cassie.  It is a resolution in which there is hope, but it is a gritty one.  It is an ending where one fully understands that there is no such thing as "cured" for Lia.  Rather, it is a movement one day, one hour, at a time towards a state of being that is not so wrought with personal destruction and self- hate. It is here where the book's resolution lies.

What is the resolution in the book Wintergirls?

If by "solution" you also mean the resolution of the plot, we should first address the conflict that drives Wintergirls. 

Lia Overbrook has recently lost her best friend Cassie to bulimia. For years, Lia and Cassie have shared everything- even the fact that both of them struggle with an eating disorder. Now that Cassie is dead, Lia is alone in her struggle, grieving for her friend, and is wracked with guilt. In the hours leading up to her death, Cassie called Lia on her cellphone, but Lia never picked up. Now she worries that if she had answered the phone, her friend would not have died. 

Lia is haunted by her memories of Cassie and begins to see, feel, and smell her ghost. (There is some ambiguity as to whether Cassie's presence is supernatural or imagined as a result of starvation.) As months go on, Lia begins to unravel the story of what really happened in Cassie's final hours and her own eating behavior becomes worse.

The climax and resolution occur very quickly in this story, with Lia finding her way to the hotel room where Cassie died. There, Lia attempts to commit suicide by overdosing on medication. When she awakes, she realizes that she does not want to die and does not want to continue starving herself. Lia realizes that she has an opportunity Cassie did not: the opportunity to get better because she wants to. 

In short, the "solution" or resolution of the conflict was for Lia to visit the scene of Cassie's death and have her own near-death experience. It was only when she risked truly losing her life that she realized she did not want to die by her own actions and could get better. In a way, Lia's determination to recover is not in spite of Cassie, but in honor of her. 

How is the conflict in the book Wintergirls resolved?

Wintergirls is a young-adult fiction novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson about best friends Lia and Cassie. The two girls have been friends for years, through thick and thin. In a cruel twist of fate, both girls have developed eating disorders. The story jumps back and forth between the present and memories of the time Lia and Cassie spent together as Lia tries to make sense of her best friend's death. Cassie struggled with bulimia nervosa and was found dead in a motel room after a binge-purge episode that caused her stomach to essentially tear open. In the days leading up to her death, Cassie had tried reaching Lia by phone several times, but Lia did not pick up. Lia feels intense guilt because she feels she might have been able to prevent her friend's death, but would it have been worth risking her own safety?

In order to reconcile her guilt and try to make sense of Cassie's death, Lia tries to follow in the steps she took over the last few days of her life. Lia tracks down the motel Cassie died in and visits the room, even trying to sleep there. Lia has been haunted--both literally and figuratively--by Cassie's ghost and her own troubles with self-harm. In the motel room where Cassie died, Lia takes a handful of sleeping pills and goes to sleep. When she wakes up in the hospital, Lia realizes that she wants to live, despite her failing to be there for Cassie and in spite of the sorrow they shared. By retracing Cassie's steps and having her own near brush with death, Lia is able to move on from her trauma.